Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Abhijeet Dipke was detained by the police as heavy security was deployed in Connaught Place on Friday (October 16, 2026) ahead of the 'Lehra Do Tiranga' (wave the tricolour) protest to prevent a large gathering. Central Park, the announced venue for the protest, remained out of bounds.
The developments triggered a political exchange, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, through press conferences and social media posts, accusing the Congress-led INDIA bloc of attempting to capture power through regime change and create anarchy similar to that in Bangladesh. The Congress retorted, citing former President Pranab Mukherjee’s saying that the Opposition’s role in a democracy was to “oppose, expose, and depose”.
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At a press conference in Lucknow, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the developments in Delhi over the past few days raised several serious concerns, alleging that the Congress and its allies, both directly and through their affiliates, were attempting to use democratic processes to create disorder for political objectives.
“Efforts are being made to turn the country’s youth into instruments of anarchy and to bring about a Bangladesh-style regime change... Their struggle is not for electoral reforms or the future of young people, but solely for acquiring power by creating instability and chaos,” he said. Mr. Singh added that the “repeated use of terms such as ‘regime change’, ‘resistance’, and ‘the streets, not Parliament, offer the solution’” represented an attempt to derail India’s development journey”.
Responding on X, Congress communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said: “The Defence Minister needs to be reminded of what former President Pranab Mukherjee, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019, would often say: the job of the Opposition in a democracy is to oppose, expose and depose.”
Minutes before the march was scheduled to begin, the police detained Mr. Dipke outside the house where he was staying in Jhandewalan, Karol Bagh. Earlier in the day, the police served him a notice asking him to refrain from any action that could obstruct the rights of other citizens.
“Waving the Tiranga crime?”
Before being detained, Mr. Dipke said, “Is waving the Tiranga a crime in this country? Even when we officially asked our people to stay in small groups, take a simple picture with our Tiranga, and leave in peace, you still won’t let us breathe. If holding our own national flag in our own capital is treated as a crime, then put me in jail.”
Both the CJP and the All India Students’ Association (AISA) separately alleged that Mr. Dipke and AISA chief Neha Bora had been taken to “undisclosed locations” by security forces and remained out of touch. They demanded their immediate release.
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The AISA chief was detained, along with other activists, by women police personnel at Mandi House, not far from Connaught Place.
While the Delhi Police had not issued an official statement until 9.30 p.m., a senior New Delhi police official said that around 80 protestors had been detained across the marches carried out on Friday evening.
The Students’ Federation of India (SFI), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan and many other groups, including independent protesters, joined the march. Left MPs John Brittas (CPI-M) and P. Sandosh Kumar (CPI) also attended the march.
Separately, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took out two “Tiranga” processions in central Delhi and gave a call to its workers to support the CJP’s protests across the country.
On October 14, the CJP had announced that the protest would be held at Central Park in Connaught Place at 5 p.m. on Friday. A day later, the New Delhi Municipal Council issued an order stating that the park would remain shut for the next two days due to “administrative reasons”.
Ahead of the march, the police blocked access to Central Park with barricades and by parking vehicles at various entry points. Hundreds of security personnel were deployed for crowd management and handling protesters.