CJP REJECTS YEAR-LONG PROTEST BAN CLAIM, VOWS NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN UNTIL ELECTION CHIEF QUITS
October 12, 2026
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has vowed to intensify its agitation across India until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns, with its leaders rejecting claims that their release from detention came with a condition barring them from participating in protests for a year.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das and co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka said the undertaking concerned maintaining peace and did not prohibit peaceful demonstrations, which they described as a constitutional right. The two leaders, along with party founder Abhijeet Dipke, were released after spending approximately 24 hours in police custody following their detention at Delhi airport on Saturday.
“We will not go back,” Das declared, appealing to residents of the national capital to participate in peaceful demonstrations wherever they were. He said the campaign would extend beyond Delhi to other parts of the country and would continue until Kumar stepped down.
The CJP had planned its demonstration at Jantar Mantar to demand the chief election commissioner’s resignation over alleged irregularities in electoral-roll revision, particularly the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. Delhi Police prevented the proposed gathering from proceeding as planned, citing public-order and procedural concerns, and detained the three leaders shortly after their flight landed.
The leaders strongly criticised the manner of their detention. Ranka alleged that the police had effectively kidnapped them from inside the aircraft, while Das claimed that officers failed to follow due procedure and did not provide seizure memos when taking possession of their mobile phones.
Das further alleged that the phones might have been hacked or illegally cloned and expressed suspicion that fabricated material could be planted on them to discredit the movement. These claims were made by the CJP leaders and were not independently established.
The leaders also questioned why the government continued to support Kumar amid the opposition’s allegations concerning the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Das asked whether the chief election commissioner possessed information about that election that explained the alleged reluctance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to act against him. The allegations remain political claims rather than established findings of electoral wrongdoing.
Ranka declared that the movement, initially directed against Kumar, had now become a confrontation with Modi and Shah. Das argued that the authorities could have invited a delegation for talks instead of detaining people seeking to demonstrate at a designated protest venue.
Dipke, who was released alongside the other two leaders, travelled to Maharashtra following the death of his grandmother while he was in custody. He alleged that although police informed him of her death, they refused to give him access to his mobile phone so that he could retrieve his cousin’s number and make contact with his family.
Delhi Police subsequently released a video in which Dipke appeared to say that he would stay in Delhi after officers reportedly offered to facilitate his return home and an opportunity to speak to his father. Dipke challenged the police account, asking why footage showing his requests for his phone and access to lawyers had been omitted.
The controversy also extended to YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was released after being detained at his parents’ residence in Gurugram on Saturday. Rathee described his detention as a kidnapping and alleged that he had been held against his will for 22 to 23 hours without access to his phone or lawyer.
The three CJP leaders were produced before a special executive magistrate’s court at Delhi Cantonment on Sunday. Their lawyers said the police were unable to provide grounds for further detention, following which the leaders were released.
The release has not brought the dispute to an end. The CJP maintains that its campaign is intended to secure electoral accountability and an overhaul of the electoral system, while the police action has prompted wider questions about preventive detention, access to legal counsel and the handling of peaceful demonstrations.
By rejecting the suggestion that their release prevents them from protesting, the CJP leaders have signalled that they intend to return to the streets. Their stated objective remains unchanged: to sustain public pressure on the Election Commission and continue the agitation until Kumar resigns.
