'You can't denotify resistance': CJP's Abhijeet Dipke as Das, Ranka get detained while trying to enter Jantar Mantar

With Delhi under tight security and protests brewing over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday as they tried to reach Jantar Mantar, police sources said.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said in a post on X that several other team members, including Ajinkya Shinde, had also been detained. He also shared a video showing CJP members jumping over a gate to enter Jantar Mantar, raising slogans such as "Bharat Mata ki Jai", before police personnel rushed towards them and grabbed them. Delhi Police has deployed a large number of personnel across the city to maintain law and order.

CJP leaders detained near Jantar Mantar

In his post, Dipke wrote, "Cockroaches with the Tiranga sneaked into Jantar Mantar early this morning before they were picked up by Delhi Police." He said Ranka, Das, Shinde and other team members had been detained, and added: "You cannot denotify the resistance," while tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dipke links detentions to Jantar Mantar decision

In remarks released later, Dipke said the decision to lift the ban on Jantar Mantar, and to remove it from the list of designated protest sites, showed Narendra Modi's fear. He said Modi did not have a problem with the location of the protest, but with the protest itself and with people's urge to protest.

Dipke said, "Now the entire country will become Jantar Mantar, because Jantar Mantar is not just a place. It is a feeling, a spirit of resistance." He also said, "And this is the mark of a dictator," and added that if the government believed protests would stop because Jantar Mantar had been removed from the list of designated protest sites, "that's simply not going to happen".

He said protests would now take place across the country and across Delhi, and added, "The country will no longer be intimidated by your actions." He also said Ashutosh and Saurav would clarify the next course of action in Delhi within 24 hours.

Remarks on court, Election Commission and opposition protest

Asked about Congress Kerala's social media post, Dipke said he did not want to comment at the moment. He then referred to remarks by the Chief Justice or the Supreme Court that maintaining law and order was not the court's responsibility, and asked what action had been taken against the Election Commission.

He said no action had been taken and referred to what happened after votes were cancelled in Bengal, saying the response was that even if people did not vote this time, they could vote later. He asked whether the Supreme Court would tell Narendra Modi the same thing — that he should not contest the elections this time and could contest next time — and said that if it could not say that, then on what basis were voters being told this.

Dipke also extended his best wishes to the India Block for the protest that took place in Delhi a day earlier. He called it "a very large and extremely important protest" and said the entire country, especially the opposition, needed to unite and launch such protests. He added that such protests would continue across the country until Gyanesh Kumar resigns.

Dipke responds to Devendra Fadnavis

On Devendra Fadnavis's statement, Dipke said there were already agencies such as the police, the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, and asked why allegations were being made instead of ordering an investigation. "There are already the police, the ED, and the CBI. Involve them in this matter and investigate. Why are you making allegations?" he said.

He added that Fadnavis and the BJP had spent decades in the opposition and had still not lost the habit of making accusations. "Arrest us. Put us in jail. What are you waiting for? Put us behind bars!" he said.