CEC row LIVE: CJP's two key leaders jailed, Rahul Gandhi says waving Tricolour at Jantar Mantar not crime
New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was imposing an "unofficial emergency" after two CJP leaders were sent to five-day judicial custody for allegedly trespassing into Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Dipke sought to know what offence CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka committed by waving the tricolour at Jantar Mantar.
Das and Ranka were sent to five-day judicial custody and lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail on Wednesday for allegedly violating their peace bonds and trespassing into Jantar Mantar, which was denotified as a protest area, police sources said. They were detained early Tuesday after they allegedly breached barricades and entered the Jantar Mantar area.
(This Live is compiled by Ranju Raj, Mariya Babu)
Key Updates
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Saurabh Bharadwaj: We find ourselves back in the era of 1975
#WATCH | Delhi: AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj says, "The wheels of time has turned once again, and we find ourselves back in the era of 1975. There was political instability under Indira Gandhi. Allegations of rigging had been leveled against her elections. Youth and student movements were underway. The economy was not doing well. It is exactly the same today. Questions are being raised about the electoral system. Youth and students are out on the streets. The country's economic situation is worrisome. The government has begun arresting leaders who are questioning it. In the last 1 month alone, half a dozen cases have been filed against me, non-bailable ones, so the police can arrest me any day they want. Similar cases are being fabricated against numerous big leaders so that, whenever the need arises, they can be arrested overnight and thrown into Tihar Jail. These are deeply troubling times..."
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2026 -
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Pawan Khera links SIR to RSS’s ideological project, alleges targeting of Muslims
The BJP’s desperation to shield Gyanesh Kumar Gupta and its stubborn insistence on imposing SIR across the country cannot be divorced from the RSS’s ideological project: to flatten India’s extraordinarily vibrant diversity into a singular, suffocating homogeneity.A country alive with different languages, cuisines, cultures, religions, traditions and customs is an affront to the RSS’s vision of cultural hegemony.And Muslims are its principal target - the largest religious minority in India, whom the RSS’s ideological framework has historically cast as the ‘other’ against which its vision of a Hindu nation is defined.SIR may be presented as electoral housekeeping, but it is being used to eliminate India's diversity and damage the defining tenets of our constitution.
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 ಪವನ್ ಖೇರಾ (@Pawankhera) October 14, 2026 -
Gawande questions NDA allies’ silence over police action
The INDIA Alliance has united against the Delhi Police's brutality against young Indians. But our anger must not be limited to the BJP alone. PM Narendra Modi is the head of a coalition government. His alliance partners ALSO have blood on their hands. Why are they silent?
— Anish Gawande (@anishgawande) October 14, 2026 -
Rekha Gupta questions INDIA bloc’s SIR protest
#WATCH | On INDIA Bloc's protest, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta says, "It is quite surprising, because SIR is not happening in the country for the first time... Why weren't such objections raised back then? The last SIR in Delhi took place in 2002. There was a Congress government at the Centre at the time; yet, was Congress able to win even a single seat in Delhi after 2015? Was SIR the reason for that? The public has completely rejected Congress, and that is the reason for these parties' resentment... I also want to ask the Aam Aadmi Party: everything was fine when your government came to power after the SIR, but now that the people of Delhi have rejected you, you suddenly remember protests and sit-ins. Why isn't your focus on Punjab? Just yesterday, a murder took place in the state. Drug rackets are operating there. Common people cannot raise their voices... It has been Congress's policy to assert a sense of entitlement over everything that happens in the country... Driven by this resentment, they are troubling the nation, misleading the public, and creating difficulties for the entire country to serve their political agenda. Today, Delhi has suffered a loss of crores of rupees; traders and the general public are facing immense hardship..."
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2026 -
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Delhi Police cites attempts to disrupt public peace, incite unlawful acts via social media in arrest of CJP activists
Delhi Police on Wednesday said it arrested three Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists, citing alleged repeated attempts to disturb public peace, violate the law, and instigate others through social media to engage in similar unlawful activities.
Two of them, Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were remanded to five days of judicial custody, while Ajinkya Shinde was bound down for six months to maintain peace and good behaviour.
According to a Delhi Police statement, the action followed an incident on the morning of October 13, when the three activists and 11 other CJP members allegedly entered the denotified Jantar Mantar protest site through private premises.
FIR No. 289/26 was registered at Connaught Place police station under Sections 223(a), 332 and 61(2), while FIR No. 128/26 was registered at Parliament Street police station under Sections 221, 115(2), 132, 121(1) and 3(5). -
'Tihar Jail for raising the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar?,' condemns AISA
Tihar Jail for raising the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar?@SauravDassss & @AshutoshRanka have been sent to 5 days of judicial custody.AISA stands in solidarity with @Cockroachisback. We demand their immediate release!
— AISA (@aisa_official_) October 14, 2026 -
'Police lied,' says CJP lawyer Ratna Singh
Delhi police lied in front of court today that a call was given for other protesters to join at Jantar Mantar yesterday. Absolutely false! No public call was ever made. I feel bad that police has to act on orders from “top”- itni wafadari!
— Ratna Singh (@whattalawyer) October 14, 2026 -
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'Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India,' Rahul Gandhi takes it to X
Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice. Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights.Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 14, 2026 -
Justice Kurian Joseph calls for Election Commission independence
"These are the times that the country should think about and take steps for protection of our democracy. And if such constitutional powers are vested in great institutions like the #ElectionCommission of India, its integrity and independence should be ensured": J Kurian
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) October 14, 2026 -
DYFI vows to continue protest until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns
DYFI said it would continue its protest until Gyanesh Kumar resigns, adding that unions, including left-wing student groups, would remain on the streets. It also condemned the arrest of CJP leaders, saying they had been peacefully protesting and should not have to “pay for protest.”
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“Was waving the Tricolour an offence?” asks Dipke
Was it an offence that they went to Jantar Mantar and waved tricolour there? asks Dipke after 2 CJP leaders sent to judicial custody.
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CJP lawyer slams BJP govt over the arrest
Saurav and Ashutosh sent to 5 days judicial custody. Ajinkya released on personal bond.Same grounds of arrest. Got to know that SEM has track record of punishing protesters.Coward Sarkar.
— Ratna Singh (@whattalawyer) October 14, 2026 -
INDIA Bloc and CJP fighting for a common cause: Abhijeet Dipke
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told the media that CJP and INDIA Bloc are fighting for a common cause.
“We all have a common cause and are fighting against Gyanesh Kumar, who is rigging elections and helping Narendra Modi to stay in power…Cockroach Janta Party is an independent pressure group, and it will always be an independent pressure group. But it doesn't mean that we are against the INDIA bloc. Our and the INDIA bloc's agitations are for a common cause,” he said.#WATCH | Nagpur, Maharashtra: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) Founder Abhijeet Dipke says, "...We all have a common cause and are fighting against Gyanesh Kumar, who is rigging elections and helping Narendra Modi to stay in power...Cockroach Janta Party is an independent pressure group and it will always be an independent pressure group. But it doesn't mean that we are against the INDIA bloc. Our and the INDIA bloc's agitations are for a common cause.""No, there is nothing like that," he says when asked if CJP is getting registered as a political party.
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2026 -
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Police lied in court, says Lawyer
Advocate Abhisht Hela, representing CJP's Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, alleged that police lied in court that the CJP leaders had given a call urging people to reach Jantar Mantar.
“They had not given any call. They have not violated the bond…The separate complaint over Connaught Place has been misused here, and they have been sent to 5-day judicial custody,” said Hela
#WATCH | Delhi: Advocate Abhisht Hela, representing CJP's Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde says, "They have been sent to 5-day judicial custody because of the presumption of the Police that they can commit a crime...Police lied in Court that they had given a call urging people to come there. They had not given any call. They have not violated the bond...The separate complaint over Connaught Place has been misused here, and they have been sent to 5-day judicial custody..."
— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2026 -
CJP stands with INDIA bloc in fight for democracy, says Dipke
CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke said the organisation stands alongside the INDIA bloc in its fight for democracy. He also responded to allegations of foreign funding, challenging those making the claims to produce evidence.
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'This is dictatorship', AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj
Saurabh Das & Ashutosh Ranka sent to 5-days judicial custody for waving Tiranga at Jantar Mantar.This is DICTATORSHIP
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) October 14, 2026 -
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CJP leaders Das and Ranka sent to five days’ judicial custody
Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have been remanded to five days of judicial custody. Meanwhile, CJP’s Ajinkya Shinde criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the arrest of the organisation’s leaders.
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"Nothing can break their spirits": Abhijeet Dipke backs CJP activists
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the political satire movement Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on Wednesday shared a photograph purportedly showing party activists Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde inside the Parliament Street Police Station, saying that "nothing can break their spirits" amid their detention by the Delhi Police.
In a post shared on X, Dipke wrote, "Cockroaches @AjinkyaCJP, @AshutoshRanka & @SauravDassss inside the parliament street police station. Nothing can break their spirits. What a cool picture @whattalawyer."Cockroaches @AjinkyaCJP, @AshutoshRanka & @SauravDassss inside the parliament street police station. Nothing can break their spirits.What a cool picture @whattalawyer https://t.co/aMtdwZb9Ip
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) October 13, 2026 -
CJP lawyer accuses Delhi Police of using arrests to deter peaceful protests
Ratna Singh alleged that Delhi Police was detaining peaceful protesters without explanation while criminals roamed freely, calling recent arrests illegal and accusing authorities of using them to intimidate activists and discourage demonstrations.
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CJP's Das, Ranka, Shinde to be produced before magistrate today
The Delhi police will produce CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashuthosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde before the Special Executive Magistrate at Mandir Marg Police Station today.
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Trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders among charges against CJP leaders
Delhi Police have invoked charges, including trespassing, violation of prohibitory orders, breach of a peace bond and obstructing a public servant from discharging official duties, against Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leaders detained at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.
Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka had signed bonds undertaking to maintain peace for a year after they were detained on October 10, ahead of the planned Jantar Mantar protest.
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IYC seeks independent probe into alleged police action during protests against CEC
The Indian Youth Congress sought an independent, time-bound inquiry into police action during the recent protests demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, alleging misconduct and unlawful detention of demonstrators since September 23.
In a memorandum submitted to the deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi district) on Tuesday, IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib sought details of arrests, FIRs and action taken against police personnel accused of misconduct.
“The right to peaceful protest is constitutionally guaranteed; those responsible for excessive force, unlawful detention and violence must be held accountable,” Chib said in a statement.
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CJP leaders under arrest, confirms party legal head
Delhi Police have arrested Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) activists Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and others for allegedly trespassing at Jantar Mantar.
According to Delhi Police sources, the CJP activists are under preventive arrest.
Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were detained, and a case was registered by Delhi Police while attempting to enter Jantar Mantar, a day after authorities de-notified the site as a designated protest location.
CJP's Ratna Singh said that they will be produced before the court on Wednesday.#BREAKING: Delhi Police arrests Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka, and Ajinkya Shinde at Parliament Street Police Station in today’s Jantar Mantar case.Trespass, bond violation, obstruction of public official’s duty, etc.They’ll be produced before the SCM Court in the morning. A possibility of Judicial Custody (JC) in the Tihar Jail is possible.They were not allowed to meet their lawyers till late at night. They were brought to Parliament Street PS at 3 AM in a private van. Despite these illegal actions, their spirits are high.@Cockroachisback
— Ratna Singh (@whattalawyer) October 13, 2026
Air India international flight diverted to Jaipur after suspected hijack threat
An Air India flight from Frankfurt to Delhi made an emergency landing in Jaipur after a suspected hijack alert triggered aviation security protocols. Investigations are underway.
Keralam to offer LLB entrance exams in Malayalam from next academic year
The state government approves a bilingual question paper format in Malayalam and English following student demands.
Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway traffic hit by farmers’ protest; police ask Google Maps to flag closure
Farmers’ protests over sugarcane prices and ethanol rates disrupt NH-48 at the Maharashtra-Karnataka border. Police advise commuters to take alternative routes.