Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke traveled to New Delhi to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to ensure free and fair elections. Despite Delhi Police denying permission for the demonstration and deploying heavy security across the capital to detain protesters, Dipke vowed to push forward with the protest while urging supporters to remain peaceful.

Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke traveled to New Delhi to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to ensure free and fair elections. Despite Delhi Police denying permission for the demonstration and deploying heavy security across the capital to detain protesters, Dipke vowed to push forward with the protest while urging supporters to remain peaceful.

Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijeet Dipke traveled to New Delhi to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to ensure free and fair elections. Despite Delhi Police denying permission for the demonstration and deploying heavy security across the capital to detain protesters, Dipke vowed to push forward with the protest while urging supporters to remain peaceful.

Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke left Mumbai for New Delhi on Saturday morning to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Dipke left the Four Seasons Hotel in Worli, central Mumbai, for the Mumbai airport at around 6.50 am. He is expected to reach Delhi by 10 am.

Delhi Police have said they have not given permission for the protest at Jantar Mantar and directed their teams to detain anyone attempting to stage a protest, regardless of their location.

Police have tightened security across the national capital and already detained several protesters on Saturday morning. Those detained are being shifted to six designated centres: Chhatrasal Stadium, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex, Surajmal Stadium, the Community Centre in Daulatpur and the Community Centre in Pandrawal.

Speaking to reporters at the airport, Dipke said the government was “scared”, citing the unprecedented security clampdown in the national capital, including the reported cancellation of several trains.

On Friday, in a video message posted on X, the CJP founder vowed to go ahead with the protest despite the possibility of being detained or arrested. He also urged people to join the demonstration in large numbers while maintaining peace and discipline.

“So my only request to all of you is that in case I am detained or in case I am arrested, I have no fear of that. If this government wants to invoke the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against me, the National Security Act (NSA), or whatever they want to invoke, you can do so,” Dipke said.

He maintained that the protest was aimed at ensuring free and fair elections in the country, which, he argued, would require Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

“We need free and fair elections, and those elections cannot happen without the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, cannot happen without scrapping SIR, and cannot happen without an independent selection procedure through which Election Commissioners are selected,” Dipke said.

Dipke appealed to participants to keep the demonstration peaceful and non-violent, urging them to abide by the law and refrain from any action that could undermine the purpose of the protest.

With Delhi Police tightening security across the capital and denying permission for the demonstration, Dipke’s arrival sets the stage for a potential confrontation between the protest organisers and the authorities. Whether he will be detained or arrested remains to be seen.

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