The Delhi BJP on Sunday criticised supporters of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders for celebrating the release of Abhijeet Dipke and two colleagues following their detention over a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, asserting that their release on bond should not be portrayed as a judicial victory.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor accused CJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Communist leaders of misleading the public by presenting the release of the detainees as if they had been acquitted by a court and their movement had achieved a major victory.
“This is completely misleading,” Kapoor said.
He said the three CJP leaders — Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das — were released by the Special Executive Magistrate after furnishing bonds of Rs 50,000 each, subject to the condition that they would not engage in any illegal activity for the next year.
Kapoor urged CJP and AAP leaders to acknowledge the legal conditions attached to the release instead of misleading young people. He alleged that the leaders were encouraging youngsters to join a movement that could jeopardise their careers.
The three CJP leaders were taken into preventive custody on Saturday under Sections 126 and 170 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) after being intercepted at Delhi airport ahead of a planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar.
The protest had been organised by CJP and other Opposition parties to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal were also detained and released after a few hours, along with around 3,000 demonstrators taken into custody by law enforcement personnel on Saturday.
Authorities had imposed extensive security arrangements across the national capital to prevent an unauthorised gathering at Jantar Mantar. The restrictions reportedly led to the proposed demonstration breaking up into smaller gatherings at different locations, with protesters clashing with police at some places.
The BJP’s remarks came amid an ongoing political confrontation over the SIR exercise, with Opposition parties alleging electoral irregularities and demanding accountability from the Election Commission.
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