Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 16: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has announced that Central Park in Connaught Place will remain closed on October 16 and 17 for administrative reasons, a day after Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke called on people to gather at the venue and hoist the national flag.
The proposed gathering, promoted under the slogan ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’, is part of an ongoing agitation involving student organisations, political activists and Opposition leaders. The CJP and other organisations have appealed to people to wave the national flag at Central Park, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also extended support to the call.
On Wednesday, Dipke urged citizens to assemble at Central Park at 5 pm on October 16 to hoist the Tricolour. In a post on X, he appealed to patriots and those who take pride in the national flag to participate. He also urged people unable to reach Delhi to organise Tiranga marches in their respective cities.
Dipke said the possibility of arrest would not deter him from participating in the programme, asserting that the national flag was a matter of pride for him.
The call followed the detention of CJP activists Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ajinkya Shinde by Delhi Police on Tuesday. According to reports, they were detained after allegedly attempting to breach a police cordon and enter Jantar Mantar, which had been denotified as a designated protest site.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Dipke accused the authorities of taking action against students, young protesters and Opposition leaders involved in the agitation. He claimed that student organisations and young people had been protesting on Delhi’s streets for the past 10 to 15 days and alleged that demonstrators were being forcibly removed.
He also questioned the detention of Opposition leaders who had joined the protests, naming Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan, along with the Leader of the Opposition.
Dipke alleged that restrictions had been imposed on railway and Metro services following the protest call on October 10. He also questioned the deployment of security personnel from Jammu and Kashmir, claiming that the measures were being taken over the demand concerning Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The proposed Tiranga gathering comes amid continuing protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for Kumar’s removal from office.