Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, in a joint press conference on Thursday, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Speaking to the media at the Press Club of India, the CJP leader also accused the PM of putting Kumar above students, youth, opposition leaders, and thousands of protesters staging protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral polls by the Election Commission of India.
Dipke was joined by Neha Bora, Aishe Ghosh, advocate Prashant Bhushan and actor Prakash Raj. The press conference from the CJP leader comes ahead of the flag march scheduled for Friday, October 16, at Connaught Place's Central Park. Track LIVE updates on Delhi protest here
The CJP founder called for a “Tiranga Yatra” at Central Park following the preventive arrest of co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.
Das and Ranka were remanded to five days' judicial custody for waving the national flag at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday morning, a day after the Lutyen's Delhi site was denotified as a protest venue.
“Ashutosh and Saurav have been sent to judicial custody. Is waving the tricolour a violation of the law? What is Gyanesh Kumar giving Narendra Modi? Why is Delhi being guarded like the India-Pakistan border? Why should we not believe that Gyanesh is helping Modi win the elections? If he is not, then why would Modi give so much protection to Gyanesh?” he said.
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Speaking to the media, Dipke accused the prime minister of using all “systems, machinery and resources to save Gyanesh Kumar.”
“Dictator Narendra Modi had put all his systems, machinery and resources to save Gyanesh Kumar. In the last 10-15 days, all student organisations and youth have been fighting on the streets, but they are being dragged. Neha was dragged. Aishe Ghosh was dragged, only to save one Gyanesh," the CJP founder said.
He added that even opposition leaders who came to the ground to support the movement were detained, citing the detentions of Former chief ministers, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Pinarayi Vijayan and others.
"On October 10, I think it was a rare historical event because we have never seen railways being shut, so many metro stations shut. All for whom? Gyanesh. What is Gyanesh giving Narendra Modi that Modi is ready to block the whole of Delhi? Modi-Shah have now waged a war against their own citizens. Why? For Gyanesh,” Dipke said.
Dipke highlights Jagdish Dhankhar's resignation
Continuing his tirade, Dipke also questioned the resignation of former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, adding how Dhankhar’s resignation was “easily” accepted last year.
“The VP was not given this much importance, but Gyanesh is… He (Dhankar) does not have so much immunity, but Gyanesh has. What’s there in Gyanesh? In the 2024 elections, the INDIA alliance and NDA had a margin of 2% votes. In the last two years, more than 13 crore votes have been deleted. The number of deleted voters, 13 crore, makes up for 14% of the vote share.
Dipke also cited his experience during the Bangalore protest and claimed he found “dead people on stage.”
“I went to Bangalore with Prakash sir. I found dead people on stage. They had all the documents, but ECI had declared them dead. Why? To protect one party,” he said.
Dipke also accused the prime minister of lacking the courage to officially impose an emergency.
“You are detaining people, your police is dragging students and opposition leaders on the streets. Declare an official emergency. Are you scared of your public image? What happened to Har Ghar Tiranga? Ranka and Das were picked up for unfurling the flag. How is it a violation of peace? ' Is Gyanesh more important than the national flag? ' he asked.
Dipke was also joined by Neha Bora, who further said that, along with Das and Ranka, the country's voting power has also been jailed.
“There is a movement for voter rights and against SIR and Gyanesh Kumar to leave his seat. The tool to practise our right to vote is voting. When there is a compromise there, then all of us get affected. It's not only Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das who have been sent to jail, but the entire country is also behind bars. They have jailed your voting power and your voice. When you drag people on New Delhi streets, you don’t drag protesters, you also drag the 13 crores people whose votes were deleted," said Bora.