'I will carry national flag across country, even if arrested': CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke at Kochi protest

A protest rally organised by the CJP as part of its ‘Jantar Mantar at Kochi’ campaign began at Marine Drive on Saturday around 5:30 PM. The rally, led by actor Prakash Raj, is demanding the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

During the protest in Kochi, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said, "I will carry the national flag in every part of the country, even if arrested."

He added, "They talk of external forces controlling the CJP to destabilise India. I want to ask Modi: who was it that surrendered to Trump? Who was it that agreed, at Trump’s behest, to stop purchasing Russian oil? Who was it that accepted a deal where India would face an 18% tariff, while India, in return, would impose a 0% tariff? It is you who sold out this country—not us. You sold the nation to Trump—we did not. As for the person to whom you sold it... He has landed himself in a mess today..."


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Ahead of the rally, Dipke, speaking to reporters at the airport, alleged that votes were being deleted across the country during the SIR exercise.

"Votes are being deleted across the country. There is not even a single state where votes are not being deleted," he said when asked whether vote deletion had taken place in Kerala during the revision process.

Claiming that more than 13 crore voters had been deleted, Dipke questioned the fairness of elections. "How can we expect that these elections are being conducted free and fair when you erase more than 13 crore voters, which makes up 13-14% of the registered vote share," he said.

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Commenting on the appointment of the former Kerala Chief Electoral Officer as secretary to the Kerala Chief Minister, Dipke said such appointments raised concerns about the impartiality of the electoral system. He said a similar instance in West Bengal, alleging that an election commissioner had been appointed chief secretary to the chief minister after the BJP won the state election.

Dipke also expressed confidence that a large number of young people would participate in the Kochi rally. He said, "... I am pretty sure the young population of Keralam, the youth of Keralam, would come today in large numbers because, for CJP, from our database, I can definitely tell you that the largest number of registered members of CJP are from Keralam..."

In a post on X, CJP said, "Jantar Mantar at Kochi!" and raised the slogan, "Gyanesh Kumar Must Go!"

Police personnel were deployed along the rally route to regulate traffic and prevent road blockades.

The protest comes amid a series of confrontations between CJP leaders and the Delhi Police over demonstrations in the national capital. CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were arrested for allegedly entering Jantar Mantar. Dipke was also detained ahead of a Tiranga March announced by the organisation in Delhi. CJP leaders were recently questioned by the Delhi Police Crime Branch in connection with cases related to protests in the capital.