CJP Vows Daily Jantar Mantar Marches Until CEC Gyanesh Kumar Is Removed

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), alongside several student organisations, has announced plans to hold daily marches to Jantar Mantar despite the mass detentions witnessed in Delhi on Saturday. The groups said their protests would continue until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns or is removed from office over allegations of "vote chori" and "collusion" with the ruling BJP.

The announcement came as CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and several other leaders remained in custody following a police operation across the national capital. Hundreds of protesters were also detained after the group called for a gathering at Jantar Mantar. CJP members condemned what they described as the "brutal torture of innocent protesters" and claimed they had no information about Dipke's whereabouts after police took him into custody from an aircraft shortly after it landed in Delhi around 11 am.

They further alleged that he was being treated "inhumanely" and was not being permitted to attend the last rites of his grandmother, who died in his native Maharashtra earlier that day.

CJP Announces Daily Marches To Jantar Mantar

Ajinkya Shinde, whom Dipke had appointed to head the demonstration in his absence, announced, "Every day, there will be marches to Jantar Mantar from now on, until Gyanesh Kumar is sacked as CEC."

Srijan Bhattacharyya, general secretary of the Student Federation of India (SFI), urged organisations to build the "broadest possible unity against this dictatorial regime", directing his criticism at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said, "From Sunday, student protests will spread to different corners of the country. They will peacefully demonstrate everywhere, and wherever they are blocked by police barricades, that area will become a 'Jantar Mantar'."

INDIA Bloc Plans Protest, Lists Electoral Reforms Demands

The Congress-led INDIA bloc has also announced a protest for Monday. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said opposition leaders would meet Chief Justice Surya Kant at the Supreme Court to submit a memorandum.

On Friday, the bloc had submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu outlining four demands. These included Kumar's resignation and the repeal of the 2023 law granting the Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners immunity from legal proceedings; an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the restoration of 13.3 crore deleted voter names; a return to paper ballots in elections; and the annulment of Assembly elections conducted over the previous two years "in which conclusive evidence of vote chori has been presented".

Over 1,500 Detained Across Delhi Amid Heavy Security

More than 1,500 people were detained across Delhi on Saturday as police moved to prevent the CJP's planned gathering, citing the absence of official permission. Those taken into custody included four former chief ministers: AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee, and Left leaders Pinarayi Vijayan and Manik Sarkar.

Dipke was detained alongside CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das. His paternal grandmother died in Maharashtra while he was in custody. Police said he had been informed that he could travel to attend the funeral, although it remained unclear by Saturday evening whether he would be released.

Authorities deployed more than 25,000 Delhi Police personnel and central paramilitary forces. Entry gates at 45 Metro stations were shut, more than 250 trains were cancelled, and internet services were suspended within a four-kilometre radius of Jantar Mantar. Police sources said women and senior citizens were being released on priority, while security arrangements would remain in place on Sunday.

Rahul Gandhi Backs Protesters; Kejriwal, Banerjee Hit Out

Rahul Gandhi, who was in Chennai for a student outreach programme, voiced support for the demonstrators in a post on X. He wrote, "Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all. We are surrounding you, and we are not going to back down... Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting."

Before his detention, Kejriwal had urged demonstrators, "Wherever Modi ji stops you, sit there. Turn that place into Jantar Mantar." Banerjee, meanwhile, said the situation "has gone beyond an Emergency; it has become a Super Emergency".

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad defended Kumar and the SIR exercise during a press conference. "One, Indian democracy has thwarted attempts to incite anarchy. Two, the country will be governed by Parliament, not by the streets," he said.

In Mumbai, police detained around 200 people who had assembled at August Kranti Maidan to support the protests. Those detained reportedly included Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi and actor Imran Khan. Demonstrations and detentions were also reported in Ahmedabad, Chennai and other cities.