New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Ashutosh Ranka on Friday said that the outfit will “evolve in necessary ways” while asserting that the protest to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, will continue.
CJP co-conveners Ranka and Saurav Das and National Organisation in-charge Ajinkya Shinde on Friday visited the Mandir Marg Police Station, a day after seeking more time to appear before the Delhi Police Crime Branch for questioning.
They were accompanied by CJP’s legal affairs head Ratna Singh.
Das, Ranka, and Shinde were asked to appear before the Delhi Police Crime Branch at its office in Rajouri Garden at noon on Thursday. However, they requested more time from the Delhi Police.
Speaking to reporters after coming out of the police station, Ranka said: “We haven’t received the next date yet. On the first date given to us, we could not go, so we informed them. They said they will confirm the timings, so we are waiting for the Crime Branch to get back to us.”
“Today, there was the verification process for our sureties (following release from judicial custody). It all went well. And we have been given the next date, which is in the third week of November,” he added.
Ranka further said that the “movement” against the SIR will continue.
“We are not leaders; we are custodians of this platform, which has been given to us by the people of this country. We are just trying to do our best. The movement continues even when we are in jail or outside jail. Obviously, there are a lot of things that we have learned about ourselves and the way the regime is working, and we will, of course, change and evolve in necessary ways,” he said.
Das and Ranka were released from Tihar Jail on Wednesday following a week in judicial custody.
Earlier this week, Delhi Police transferred protest cases against the CJP leaders to the Crime Branch.
The cases are in connection with the incident on October 13, when Das, Ranka and Shinde, along with 11 others, trespassed into Jantar Mantar, which has been de-notified as the designated protesting site.
All were detained by the Delhi Police. While Shinde was released on bail bond, Das and Ranka remained in judicial custody for a week.
–IANS–
