With Dipke, Ranka and Das detained, Ajinkya Shinde calls another CJP march to Jantar Mantar

New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party will again attempt to march to Jantar Mantar on Sunday under Ajinkya Shinde, who has taken charge of the agitation after founder Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained before they could reach Saturday’s protest venue. Shinde announced that CJP supporters would once again move towards Jantar Mantar, extending an agitation that Delhi Police tried to prevent on Saturday through preventive detentions, barricading and restrictions across the national capital. He had also told supporters during Saturday’s action that they should continue towards Jantar Mantar and, if stopped by police, hold their protest wherever they were intercepted, indicating that the mobilisation could continue even if access to the designated site remained blocked. Why is Ajinkya Shinde leading CJP now? Shinde did not emerge as the protest leader only after Saturday’s detentions. Dipke had recorded a video on Friday night anticipating that he, Das and Ranka could be detained after reaching Delhi, and CJP released the recording after all three were taken into custody. In the video, Dipke explicitly handed operational control of the agitation to Shinde, saying that as long as he, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka remained detained, CJP’s organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde would lead the Jantar Mantar protest. Who is Ajinkya Shinde? Shinde, 35, is from Latur in Maharashtra and serves as CJP’s national organisation in-charge, a position announced by Dipke in August. He holds a BTech degree from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University at Lonere in Raigad and has previously worked in the IT sector. Shinde had earlier been associated with the Aam Aadmi Party before becoming one of CJP’s organisational faces, and within the group he has been involved in the “School Thik Karo” campaign focused on government schools as well as its recent Mumbai mobilisation. What happened to Saturday’s Jantar Mantar protest? CJP had called the October 10 march to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over its allegations concerning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Delhi Police denied permission for the gathering, citing short notice, alleged violations during earlier protests and law-and-order concerns. Police subsequently detained CJP leaders and protesters before they could converge in large numbers at Jantar Mantar, while demonstrations broke out at other locations after access to the main protest site was restricted. Dipke, Das and Ranka were detained from inside their aircraft after landing in Delhi, while YouTuber Dhruv Rathee was detained from Gurugram and large numbers of protesters were picked up at different locations across Delhi and on routes towards the capital. What changes on Sunday? Shinde’s call potentially changes the character of the mobilisation because supporters have been told not to treat access to Jantar Mantar as the only condition for protesting. His message that protesters should demonstrate wherever police stop them turns one planned gathering into the possibility of multiple smaller protests if authorities again block access to the venue. With Dipke, Ranka and Das still detained, Sunday’s mobilisation will also show whether the organisational structure they put in place before travelling to Delhi can keep the agitation going without its founders physically leading the march.