The police in Delhi have drawn a clear line. They’re telling everyone straight up: stay away from the Cockroach Janta Party’s planned gathering at Central Park in Connaught Place on Friday. Only a small group of 11 people will be allowed to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a suitable spot. That’s the limit.
This comes after CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke put out a call for people to show up at Central Park around 5 pm on October 16 with the tricolour. He’s calling it “Lehra Do Tiranga.” The party is protesting what they call electoral fraud, and the timing follows the arrest and five-day judicial custody of two of their members, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. Those two had gone to Jantar Mantar after it was removed from the list of designated protest sites. Dipke has been asking “patriots” to gather with the flag.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Neha Yadav made the police position clear at a press conference on Thursday evening. She said prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita are already in force across Connaught Place and the areas around it. The reason is the current security and law-and-order situation. Anyone who violates those orders can face legal action. The police also pointed out that the Aam Aadmi Party has asked its supporters and the public to join in large numbers, which is why they’re being extra careful.
On top of that, the New Delhi Municipal Council has shut Central Park for October 16 and 17. They cited administrative reasons and asked the police to keep any kind of gathering from happening near the park. Local traders and market associations in the area had already raised concerns about disruptions, especially with the festive season on. A vendor from Palika Bazar even went to the Delhi High Court, worried about business losses and blocked access during what is usually a busy time.
The High Court heard that plea on Thursday. A bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma declined to stop the CJP protest outright. Instead, they took the police’s assurance that they would take all possible steps to regulate and control any gathering. The matter is listed again for November 3. The court did not issue a specific restraint order when the petitioner’s side pressed for one.
So the police are working with what the court left them. They say they can facilitate a group of 11 selected people to carry the national flag and sing the national anthem at a designated suitable place. But the flag has to be handled with full respect, dignity and decorum, following the prescribed rules. No free-for-all. Everyone else is being asked, firmly, not to join.
This is not the first time the CJP has tried to hold a demonstration in the capital. Earlier this month, on October 10, they attempted a bigger protest linked to demands around the Chief Election Commissioner. That day saw heavy deployment, barricades, and large numbers of detentions across the city. Jantar Mantar itself was later de-notified as a protest site, with alternative venues listed at Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground. The CJP has argued that the changes push dissent farther from the centre of power.
Police have stepped up arrangements around Connaught Place, nearby metro stations, markets, and approach roads. The message is consistent: the park is closed, prohibitory orders are active, and only a tightly limited symbolic activity will be permitted under police watch. Any larger assembly risks legal consequences.
Dipke and the CJP have not yet issued a detailed public response to the latest police conditions, according to reports available so far. Supporters have been encouraged in some statements to hold parallel flag displays in other cities if they cannot reach Delhi. Traders in Connaught Place, meanwhile, continue to hope the area stays calm so their festive-season business is not hit.
In short, the police have drawn the boundary at 11 people with the flag, at a spot they choose, with the park shut and Section 163 in force. The rest of the public is being told, in plain terms, not to turn up. Whether that small permitted group materialises, and how the day unfolds under the watch of the force, will be clear on Friday.
Sources:
NDTV, Moneycontrol, Times Now, India Today, APN Live, Lalluram News, Hindustan, Jagran, NewsBytes, Zee News, Oneindia, The New Indian Express, Outlook India.
@Rohit Manral
