CJP Protest Latest News: Shashi Tharoor Slams Centre Over Delhi Security Crackdown

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has criticised the Centre over the heavy police deployment and security restrictions in Delhi ahead of the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) planned protest at Jantar Mantar. He accused the government of “completely shackling freedom of movement” as authorities continued taking action against demonstrations over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The CJP organised the protest to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of irregularities in the revised voter lists.

Several CJP leaders, including founder Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained. Hundreds of protesters and journalists attempting to gather in central Delhi were also reportedly detained amid the security restrictions.

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‘Rarely Seen Anything Like This in Delhi’: Shashi Tharoor Criticises Centre

Tharoor said he arrived in the national capital shortly after 2 am on Saturday. He criticised the Centre over what he described as an unusually large security deployment, claiming that 22,000 police and paramilitary personnel had been deployed across the city.

He also referred to reports of 250 trains being cancelled, 45 metro stations being closed, and young people being detained from their homes and streets. Tharoor said checkpoints had been established every few hundred metres, while concrete barricades and spike strips had been placed on roads.

Describing the situation as something he had “rarely seen” in Delhi, the Congress leader accused the authorities of attempting “to prevent citizens from peacefully raising questions about the integrity of our elections”.

He also criticised the suspension of internet services in central Delhi, calling it one of the most regressive and repressive measures taken during the crackdown.

“Most regressive (as well as repressive) is the suspension of the internet in the heart of the national capital,” he added.