There are three primary faces in the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and all are currently under detention. The question is whether a pressure group can sustain its movement without its main faces, who have been key to mobilising forces and leading the masses into anti-BJP protests.
The Connaught Place protest of CJP saw very few people coming to join the protest; the pull that the protests have had during their first phase seems to be fading with time. "We came here to protest against the government, and we will continue it. There are not as much people as there were earlier. Whosoever, whenever can join the protests against the government will do so," Deepika, a student who had come to join the protests said.
The primary reason is that the government has made all the necessary preparations and devised strategies to deploy its forces to muzzle the protests. Earlier, during its first protest against former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the slogans, symbolism and daily engagement with the masses through fasts, speeches and explanations had encouraged more people to join the movement, helping it dominate the media space and the protest site.
There have been further developments regarding the CJP. There is greater alignment with the Congress party, which the CJP had earlier tried to keep at a distance. However, after Rahul Gandhi said that all protests were part of the same struggle to protect democracy and the sanctity of the Constitution, Dipke soon tweeted in favour of the Congress, suggesting that people fighting for a common cause should not be divided among themselves.
There is also an understanding that pressure groups work best when they are not restricted in pursuing their objectives. However, the CJP's top three faces have either been placed in judicial custody or, in Dipke's case, restricted from leaving his home.
Although the CJP protest at Connaught Place is seeing some people come together, restrictions are also in place to prevent any gathering from taking place. The CJP is also witnessing a reduced flow of people.
Earlier, the administration had made preparations to shut down the internet and metro services around the protest sites. This time, both are functioning. This also suggests that the administration's intelligence apparatus did not expect a large crowd to gather. Despite this, the Delhi Police has made all the preparations to quell any protest that could gain momentum, prolong the agitation or take root, as the first CJP protest did.
