Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 5: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das has alleged that the government is planning to arrest him and other party leaders, including founder Abhijeet Dipke and Ashutosh Ranka, ahead of the outfit's proposed protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on October 10.
The CJP has called for the protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a post on social media, Das claimed that the government was planning to arrest him, Dipke, Ranka and other CJP leaders. He said such action would not prevent the proposed mobilisation and urged people to continue what he described as a fight for their rights and future.
"We have always been ready to face jail or worse. But this will be a big mistake. The young will not tolerate this. The protests must continue. People of India should ensure the biggest mobilisation starting October 10," Das said.
Dipke also reacted to the allegation in a social media post, directly questioning Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged arrests and saying that people would gather on October 10.
The CJP's claims came days after the outfit held a protest at Mumbai's Shivaji Park demanding Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR process. The protest was backed by Shiv Sena (UBT).
The protest followed a report by The Indian Express claiming that two Election Commissioners had raised objections to aspects of the SIR process 14 times over a 10-month period. The Election Commission rejected the report's claims, saying that differences of opinion and comments were a normal part of internal discussions and that all decisions had been taken unanimously.
The CJP has also faced police action during previous programmes. Last month, several of its leaders, including Ranka, were detained by Assam Police for around 12 hours ahead of the outfit's first regional volunteers' meeting in the state.
Earlier, the CJP had staged a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 20 over the NEET paper leak issue, during which several demonstrators were detained by police. The 36-day agitation later ended with the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The CJP has called for a major mobilisation in Delhi on October 10, while there has been no official confirmation of any plan by the government to arrest the party's leaders ahead of the protest.