In the first public display of support for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi slammed the arrest of the group’s leaders for protesting at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday morning. The support evoked a prompt thank you message from the CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke.
Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X on Wednesday morning. “Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. “Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights. Indicating that the Congress will also fight the Centre’s move to denotify Jantar Mantar as a protest site, Rahul Gandhi added that people will reclaim it.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and members Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav were released on bail after furnishing a bond that they will not disturb peace for a year. To dispel the narrative, Rahul Gandhi had AISA leader Neha Bora walking with him and Priyanka Gandhi during the march in Delhi on Monday. She was also invited to Gandhi’s tea party on Tuesday along with several other civil society groups.
The CJP, however, was not invited to the gathering. The open support to the jailed CJP leaders further indicates a change in Rahul Gandhi’s strategy amid the ongoing protest and criticism that the Congress was keeping its distance from the CJP. Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has also come out in support of the CJP and slammed the jailing of its members.
Police said their flash protest at Jantar Mantar violated their bail condition. “The so-called biggest nationalists are now arresting Indians for unfurling and waving the Tricolour in their own country, an act which, according to the Union Government, constitutes a breach of peace,” he posted on X.
