Guwahati: Police personnel visited Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke’s home on Friday and served him a notice prohibiting the party’s planned march in Delhi, officials said.
The march, titled ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’, is scheduled for 5 pm on Friday at Central Park in Connaught Place.
The CJP has urged supporters to carry the national flag as part of its campaign demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Police cited restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to deny permission for a mass gathering in Connaught Place and nearby areas.
They offered an alternative venue for a limited gathering where participants could display the Tricolour and sing the national anthem. Central Park will remain closed on October 16 and 17, the New Delhi Municipal Council said, citing administrative reasons.
More than 6,000 Delhi Police personnel and 220 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed across the New Delhi area.
At a press conference on Thursday night, Dipke alleged that security and intelligence personnel were monitoring him ahead of the march.
He claimed that vehicles without number plates were following him and that Intelligence Bureau personnel had asked his residential guard about his movements.
He accused the authorities of trying to intimidate him into abandoning the demonstration and said he would proceed despite the possibility of detention.
A senior Delhi Police officer said the situation was being monitored but denied that the force had made special security arrangements outside any particular resident’s home.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday declined to issue an order stopping the march. The court was hearing a petition by a Palika Bazaar street vendor who argued that a large gathering could disrupt traders, pedestrians and commuters.
It recorded the police’s assurance that appropriate measures would be taken to maintain law and order but did not specifically approve the march. The case is scheduled for another hearing on November 3.
The march follows the detention of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were remanded to five days of judicial custody over allegations that they violated peace bond conditions and entered Jantar Mantar, which is no longer an authorised protest venue.
Dipke has invited political parties, student bodies and civil society groups to join the campaign. The Election Commission has denied allegations of partisan conduct and defended the electoral-roll revision as necessary to maintain accurate voter lists.