CHENNAI, October 22 (Aalimi Nation) – Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai has criticised the way the Centre and Delhi Police have handled protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), saying he disagrees with the group's methods but supports its right to raise questions.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai on Tuesday, Annamalai said: "I may not agree with many of the CJP's modes of protest. But I completely support CJP in terms of the questions they want to raise. It is for the government to answer." He said arresting protesters would only make the group's leaders stronger and added: "The Delhi police are doing a real disservice."
The questions at issue
The CJP has raised concerns over alleged discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and its protests have demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Election Commission has not been quoted in these remarks, and the allegations remain the group's claims.
Annamalai returned to the subject on Thursday in a series of posts. He recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Gujarat chief minister in 2011, had said he would have gone to Delhi and waged war against the Central government if his hands were not tied, after a police action against anti-corruption protesters at Ramlila Maidan. Annamalai said Modi's position at the time was correct.
He said it was "honestly tiring and boring" to see protests labelled anti-national and foreign-funded, and noted that the Home Ministry already administers the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which has mechanisms to investigate funding allegations. He also asked whether the BJP was opposing the CJP or giving it free publicity.
The Jantar Mantar case
CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were arrested after entering Jantar Mantar, which has been removed from the list of designated protest sites. They spent about a week in judicial custody before a Special Executive Magistrate ordered their release on Wednesday on personal bonds and sureties of Rs 50,000 each. They also agreed not to call for protests at Jantar Mantar while it remains off the designated list.
Annamalai questioned several aspects of the proceedings, including the role of an Assistant Commissioner of Police as magistrate in preventive proceedings in which Delhi Police was the complainant, and the rejection of eight sureties. A day after the release, the Delhi Police Crime Branch summoned Das and Ranka for questioning over the protest. Police said they had informed investigators they were unavailable and sought more time.
Reactions and what next
Annamalai said some BJP supporters had criticised him over his comments. No formal response from the BJP leadership to his latest remarks was available at the time of writing, and Delhi Police have not publicly responded to his criticism of the proceedings.
Das has described the situation as an "emergency" and criticised the court process. The case has been transferred to the Crime Branch, which is expected to question the two leaders once they appear. The CJP has called for continued scrutiny of the electoral roll revision, while the Centre and the Election Commission have yet to address its specific allegations in detail.
