‘Fear of jail won’t work’:CJP says it will go ahead with October 10 protest

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday said it will go ahead with its October 10 protest call at Jantar Mantar against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that its mobilisation should be seen as a “broader call by the youth” rather than that of a particular outfit.

Welcoming the INDIA bloc’s planned protest against the CEC and ‘vote chori (election theft)’ on Tuesday, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said, “We welcome all peaceful protests. Everyone should make efforts, be it INDIA bloc or other student organisations or activists, or common people. Everyone needs to assert their rights.”

Describing Jantar Mantar as a “symbol of hope, victory and shared responsibility”, the CJP said the march would remain peaceful even if protesters are prevented by Delhi Police from reaching the designated site. “Wherever the police stop us, we will sit there and that will become Jantar Mantar. They cannot cordon off the entire city, right?” Mr. Das said at a press conference.

He also said the CJP had received information from “well-wishers” within the establishment that its leaders could be arrested ahead of the October 10 protest.

“It does not matter if we are arrested or detained... Fear of FIR, fear of jail won’t work anymore,” Mr. Das said.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) asked various organisations supporting the October 10 protest against the CEC to prepare back-up leadership and communication plans in case their leaders are detained.

Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj held meetings with party MLAs, councillors, district presidents, and ward observers and said leaders of various outfits supporting Jantar Mantar 2.0 could “soon be arrested in false cases”.