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The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday sought to play down its recent sparring with sections of the Congress, welcoming the INDIA bloc's proposed protest
on Tuesday (today) and saying its own October 10 mobilisation should be seen as a broader call by the youth rather than that of a particular organisation. Today, the Opposition Members of Parliament, particularly from the INDIA bloc will hold a protest march in New Delhi from Makar Dwar at Parliament House towards the Election Commission of India. The march is expected to commence from 10:30 AM.
CJP Presses on Right of Peaceful Protest
CJP co-convener Saurav Das said everyone -- political parties, student organisations, activists and common people -- should assert their rights through peaceful protests.
"We welcome all peaceful protests. Everyone should make efforts, be it INDIA bloc or other student organisations or activists, or common people. Everyone needs to assert their rights," Das told a press conference, referring to the INDIA bloc's planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Tuesday.
CJP on Oct 10 Protest
On the October 10 mobilisation plan of the CJP, Das said, "You should not consider the call for protests on October 10 as our call or someone else's call. This is the call by the youth and Gen Z. We are one part of that."
The remarks come against the backdrop of an over-the-weekend online spat between CJP and sections aligned with the Congress, after a social media post compared CJP national convener Abhijeet Dipke with AISA president Neha Bora.
While Dipke and Bora themselves rejected any rivalry, CJP leaders accused sections of the "liberal ecosystem" of seeking to undermine Dipke. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also weighed in, cautioning against replacing one form of "hero worship" with another.
The exchange brought simmering differences between CJP and sections of Congress into the open. Sections of the Congress have been wary of CJP's emergence given the AAP background of several of its prominent faces, while AAP has backed its recent mobilisations.
Das said repeated protests on the streets indicate there is a problem. "If people are hitting the streets repeatedly then there is a problem," Das said, adding that taking to streets is the "last resort" for people who feel they are not being heard.
CJP Says Some Leaders May Be Arrested on Oct 10
At the press conference, Das also claimed CJP had received information from "well-wishers" within the establishment that its leaders could be arrested ahead of the October 10 protest.
"Well wishers have informed us that meetings are taking place and there is a high possibility that CJP leaders could be arrested," he claimed. "It does not matter if we are arrested or detained because this fight is about the young generation.
"Even if we are arrested or detained the protest will go on because this is the fight for our future," he asserted. "Fear of FIR, fear of jail has evaporated -- it won't work anymore."
Das said Jantar Mantar had become a "symbol of hope and victory" and asserted that protesters would sit wherever police stops them.
"Wherever police stops us, we will sit there and that will become Jantar Mantar," he said.
Das also seized upon the Supreme Court's Monday remarks over the controversy surrounding Form 6, accusing the Election Commission (EC) of misrepresenting the court's position.
"The EC sought to clarify in its press statement that the Supreme Court upheld changes in Form 6. Today, the Supreme Court has said the EC lied," he said.
Chief Justice Surya Kant, during a hearing on Monday, said the apex court had not approved any modification to Form 6.
The clarification assumes significance as the EC, in its September 26 statement following a meeting of the full commission, had said the "declaration attached to Form 6 for SIR has been upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court".
With inputs from PTI
