Free and fair elections not possible until SIR is scrapped: CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke

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Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke at a press conference at the Press Club in Bengaluru on Thursday. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J.

“Free and fair elections are not possible until the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is scrapped and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns. This SIR is a ‘well-engineered’ plan to delete those who don’t vote for the BJP,” Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke said, addressing a press conference here on Thursday after a protest against the SIR.

Pointing to political changes in several States, Mr. Dipke noted that regional leaders who opposed Mr. Modi — including Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, M.K. Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan — were no longer in power, and questioned whether this was merely a coincidence.

“Even if one believes that there is no involvement of the BJP, then why is only the Opposition at a loss with this exercise? And why is the BJP answering the questions raised to the Chief Election Commissioner?” Mr. Dipke asked. “Then why should the nation believe that the BJP and the Election Commission are not the same thing?”

He called for a mass protest against the SIR, and said that if people in the country do not come together against it, there would be “nothing left” to call the country a democracy.

“We’re doing a Dilli Chalo protest. We have conducted a peaceful protest in Mumbai, now in Bengaluru. Then why are we not allowed to protest at Jantar Mantar, which is a designated protest site? Does Delhi have a separate Constitution?” Mr. Dipke asked.

“Modi-Shah are nothing but servants, who have specific time limit to serve. They should stop acting like they own the country and its citizens. If you keep at this approach, the people will dethrone you from the Prime Minister’s position and that will happen through an electoral means,” he said.

Asked whether this would Constitutionally amount to a call for destabilising the country, Mr. Dipke said, “If this is destabilising the country, then Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the British, was the biggest destabiliser. We are doing satyagraha against this fraud and for free and fair elections.”

“Destabilising the country is where you declare living people as dead for your political gains, where you order to beat up 15-year-old children with batons, with tear gas. That is destabilising the country, not peacefully protesting.”

When questioned if the Bengaluru protest, which drew thousands, was a “rehearsal” for the Dilli Chalo protest or was held here because Karnataka was considered “safe” under the Congress government, Mr. Dipke said, “In Karnataka, 1.07 crore names were deleted. Those alive are declared dead. That’s why this was chosen, not because it’s safe, because the situation is grave.”

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the group was prepared for the possibility of being detained or arrested during the Dilli Chalo protest. “We know we may be detained or even arrested but we are ready to risk it all to save democracy.