Cockroach Janta Party stages anti-SIR protest in Kochi
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The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) brought thousands of voices together in Kochi to oppose the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, with founder Abhijeet Dipke and actor-activist Prakash Raj joining the demonstration. The party framed the protest as a defense of democratic rights amid allegations of vote deletions, arrests of its co-convenors, and what it called baseless attacks from the Union minister.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) organised a protest in Kochi on Saturday to demand the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a move the party portrayed as part of a wider struggle to protect democratic rights. The march, titled “Jantar Mantar at Kochi”, began around 4 p.m. at Rajendra Maidan and drew participants including party founder Abhijeet Dipke and actor-activist Prakash Raj.
Dipke told news agency ANI that the gathering was a “people’s protest” and said the party’s fight against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would continue until India has an “independent and impartial election system”. He also claimed that “votes are being deleted across the country”, warning that the exercise could undermine the franchise of ordinary citizens.
The protest follows the arrest of CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka in Delhi after they entered the denotified Jantar Mantar site. Both were released on bail after being detained for violating a peace bond, a sequence the party has used to highlight what it sees as the suppression of dissent.
Union minister Jitendra Singh earlier alleged that CJP activists receive foreign funding, a charge the party rejected as “baseless”. CJP leaders questioned the minister’s accusations, noting previous meetings with government officials and insisting that the allegations were meant to discredit a legitimate movement.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor commented that “we believe in democracy; let them protest”, while the party’s social-media posts urged supporters to “show up to save democracy”, reflecting the broader public support the demonstration sought to mobilise.