Cockroach Janta Party Welcomes Planned Protests Against Chief Election Commissioner

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday welcomed the INDIA bloc's planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and sought to distance its October 10 mobilisation from the party, describing it as a broader "call of the youth and Gen Z". CJP co-convener Saurav Das said political parties, student organisations, activists and common people should peacefully assert their rights. "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 said at a press conference. On CJP's October 10 mobilisation, 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." His remarks came amid a social media spat over the weekend between CJP and sections aligned with the Congress. The exchange followed a post comparing CJP national convenor Abhijeet Dipke with AISA president Neha Bora. Dipke and Bora had rejected suggestions of any rivalry, but CJP leaders accused sections of the "liberal ecosystem" of trying to undermine Dipke. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj also joined the debate, cautioning against replacing one form of "hero worship" with another. Das said the repeated protests on the streets pointed to a larger problem. "If people are hitting the streets repeatedly then there is a problem," he said, adding that protests were the "last resort" for people who felt they were not being heard.