LONDON, October 17 (ANI) — A divided crowd of demonstrators gathered in Parliament Square in London on Saturday, with participants sharply split in their support for and opposition to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
The demonstration took place amid widespread protests across India led by the Congress-led INDIA bloc and the CJP. The groups have criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Opposition groups have alleged irregularities in the exercise and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
The protests also drew an international response, with members of the Indian diaspora in London staging a counterprotest in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. They opposed demonstrations organized by the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and other groups outside the Indian High Commission.
Meanwhile, in India, protesters held a Tiranga rally outside Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday amid heightened security. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and supporters also gathered for a Tiranga rally, directing their protest at the Election Commission over alleged institutional irregularities.
Ahead of the planned event, CJP activist Abhijeet Dipke had urged people to gather at Central Park in Connaught Place on October 16 to hoist the national flag as part of the “Lehra Do Tiranga” rally. However, Delhi Police detained around 150 demonstrators during protests in central Delhi. Dipke was taken into custody while leaving the residence of Anish Gawande, a spokesperson for the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
A police official informed Dipke of the grounds for his detention, saying, “We are placing you under preventive detention. Section 163 is in force in Connaught Place. You are being detained.”
Authorities served two separate notices on Dipke: one under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), citing restrictions on public assembly, and another concerning an alleged bond violation, issued by the South-West Delhi district.
The detention drew sharp criticism from Opposition leaders, including former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji, who condemned the police action. Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj also criticized the heavy security deployment and administrative restrictions.
Following these developments, Ratna Singh, head of legal affairs for the CJP, challenged the legality of party founder Abhijeet Dipke’s arrest on Saturday, urging the Special Executive Magistrate (SEM) Court to order his immediate release. She alleged serious violations of fundamental rights and due process.
In a post on X, Singh questioned how urging citizens to participate in a peaceful national demonstration could be treated as an offense.
“The SEM Court should release Abhijeet Dipke, as his arrest is unlawful. He merely urged people to unfurl the Tiranga — how can that by itself be a crime?” she wrote.
Singh also raised concerns about the circumstances of his detention.
“The manner in which he was picked up from right outside his residence, no information about his whereabouts, and the fact that even his lawyers have been unable to meet him raise serious concerns about due process and fundamental rights. How can such an apparent abuse of power be justified in a democracy governed by the rule of law? Delhi Police cannot do unlawful acts under the garb of preventive detention,” she added.
In a further development on Saturday, Delhi Police said CJP activist Abhijeet Dipke had been granted bail in Delhi, subject to certain conditions, and would be released after signing a peace bond. (ANI)
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