Congress appears to be shifting its approach towards the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), reaching out to the group’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, and inviting him and the CJP to a high tea hosted by the Leader
of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Sources told CNN-News18 that the invitation to Dipke was extended by Yogendra Yadav whom the Congress had tasked with the responsibility to reach out to civil society members.
This came before Rahul Gandhi openly backed CJP co-convenors Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das on Wednesday after they were sent to five days of judicial custody for trespassing on the now-denotified Jantar Mantar protest site.
According to The Indian Express, most of the Congress leadership had been sceptical of the CJP, which emerged as a social media phenomenon before leading the Jantar Mantar student protests in July that led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister. While the CJP said it would act as a pressure group, a large section of the Congress leadership still views it as an offshoot of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Congress closely watched the CJP’s parallel October 10 protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which was marked by a massive police crackdown in which 7,000 people, including journalists, activists and advocates, were detained. The CJP also stayed away from the Congress’s protest march towards the Supreme Court on Monday.
The first sign of a shift in Congress’ approach came on the same day, when Rahul Gandhi said all protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were “part of just one protest.”
“There are no parallel protests, there is one protest… We do not care who you are, which formation you come from… If you are protecting the Constitution, as we are… we are with you, we will support you, we will help you, we will protect you,” he said.
Why Did Rahul Gandhi Reach Out To Dipke?
The Congress reached out to Dipke and the CJP and invited its leaders to the high tea hosted by Rahul Gandhi at his residence at 5, Sunehri Bagh Road. The report said Congress urged lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan to play the role of intermediary and reach out to Dipke.
This move comes on the heels of Gandhi’s call for unity in the INDIA bloc’s campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. This also marks a change in tacks for the party, given many leaders feel that it should not cede political space to the CJP.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi defended the protesters’ right to demonstrate and hoist the national flag, while calling for a united opposition response to the government’s handling of dissent. “Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice,” he wrote on X.
Dipke promptly thanked Rahul Gandhi for speaking out against the “illegal arrest” of Das and Ranka, and called for a protest at Delhi’s Connaught Place on October 16. The latest development could mean greater visibility, political legitimacy and access to a wider opposition network for the CJP, even though it is not a formal alliance.
