The Congress’ efforts to bring civil society on board for its protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar have seen limited success but an attempt was made to reach out to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) through advocate Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday, people aware of the details said.
According to the people cited above, Bhushan tried to bring the CJP leadership to a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders hosted by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at his residence on Tuesday evening.
The CJP, however, did not attend the meeting. There was no formal discussion on the outfit during the meeting, the people said.
The Congress’ invite signals a shift in stance since the party has, in the past, called the CJP a “proxy” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and said it is not a recognised political outfit but an activist group. Gandhi’s willingness to accommodate the CJP in the meeting, however, changed the perception, the people said.
The move also comes at a time when the Congress leadership is asking civil society and other organisations to join their protests against Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
On Monday, Gandhi sought to blur the lines between the Opposition’s protests, student agitations and the CJP’s demonstrations, declaring that all of them were “one protest.” "All protests are one protest. There are no parallel protests. We don’t care who you are,” he said, dubbing the CJP’s efforts as “students tried to protest.”
After CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were sent to 5-day judicial custody over alleged breach of security at Jantar Mandar, Gandhi on Wednesday said: "What crime did they commit? Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice. Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights. Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it."
According to a senior opposition leader, after the two CJP leaders were held under preventive arrest, outfit founder Abhijeet Dipke informed a senior Trinamool Congress leader, who coordinated with other opposition leaders for a synchronised condemnation.
While the Congress remained skeptical about the CJP in the past, parties such as the TMC, AAP and Left bloc have maintained regular contact with the CJP, and also offered them support and coordination.