Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, held a late‑night press conference on Thursday, saying police may detain him tonight or in the morning after he declared a planned flag‑waving protest at Central Park on October 16. He pledged to go to jail if necessary to wave the Tiranga, calling the police a traitorous force for allegedly watching his home and following him with unmarked vehicles. The National Development and Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had already announced that Central Park would be shut on October 16 and 17, forcing the protest to move to alternate sites.
Dipke cited the arrests of fellow CJP members Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka as evidence of the state’s crackdown on flag‑waving. He accused the Intelligence Bureau of monitoring his residence, claiming that watchmen had been instructed to take updates. The party’s call to gather at the park involved waving the national flag at 100 different locations, a demand that directly challenged the city’s closure orders.
The protest is aimed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom Dipke accuses of irregularities in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls. He demanded the removal of Kumar and the appointment of an independent commissioner, insisting that the issue was not about changing the regime but about electoral integrity. Dipke’s speeches were punctuated by accusations that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration was “hating the Tiranga” to protect its image.
With the park closed for two days, Delhi Police are expected to detain Dipke on October 16 if he attempts to attend the protest. The central government has not responded to the party’s demands, leaving the protest’s fate uncertain as the city prepares to enforce the closure order.