Mumbai — Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party on Friday accused the Centre of imposing an emergency ahead of the party's planned protest in New Delhi and questioned the security curbs put in place before the demonstration. The party is set to hold a march at Jantar Mantar to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The party said the government's measures to restrict movement and deny permission for the protest showed that it was afraid of the younger generation. The remarks came as Delhi Metro stations were shut, roads were blocked, and several trains scheduled to arrive in the capital were cancelled. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, directed the Centre and authorities to ensure there was no complete stoppage of Metro and train movement to Delhi, emphasizing that everything could not be brought to a halt.
Speaking to reporters at the Mumbai airport, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said party volunteers would go ahead with the protest at Jantar Mantar. Criticising the Centre's pre-emptive curbs, he said the government had restricted public movement to stop demonstrators and added that the administration is afraid of Gen Z. He questioned the heavy deployment of security personnel and challenged the leadership to arrest him if that would solve the nation's issues.
Another CJP leader, Saurav Das, compared the situation to the historical Emergency and claimed party volunteers were being detained in BJP-ruled states, with some placed under house arrest. Das argued that such sweeping transportation shutdowns had not been implemented even during the original Emergency, while fellow leader Ashutosh Ranka noted that Jantar Mantar is a designated protest site and that the denial of assembly rights had become the central issue.
According to officials, 38 trains originating in other states and scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations were cancelled, while operations at other local stations remained normal. Additionally, entry and exit gates at 57 Delhi Metro stations were ordered shut due to security reasons ahead of the proposed demonstration.
The Supreme Court directed the Centre and authorities to ensure that there was no complete prohibition on movement by Delhi Metro and incoming trains because of the political march. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked the administration to allow services in a regulated manner, even as the party maintained that its demonstration would proceed as planned.