New Delhi, October 13: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has condemned the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, alleging that the move undermines the right to peaceful assembly and democratic accountability.

The party also condemned the detention of its leaders and volunteers by Delhi Police on Tuesday morning after they entered the site carrying the national flag and demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.

According to CJP, the denotification was announced on October 12, the same day its representatives approached the Parliament Street Police Station to submit a letter seeking a date and time for a proposed peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar. The party said it had left the scheduling of the protest to the police and sought a response within 24 hours.

The subsequent decision to remove Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest venues has raised concerns within the party over the availability of public spaces for peaceful dissent.

On Tuesday morning, CJP Co-Convenors Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, National Organisation In-charge Ajinkya Shinde and other party members entered the site before being detained by Delhi Police.

“You cannot denotify the resistance. If the government believes that removing Jantar Mantar from the list of designated protest sites will silence people demanding accountability, it has misunderstood what this movement stands for. Jantar Mantar is not merely a location on a map. It is where citizens have gathered to question those in power, and no administrative order can erase that democratic impulse,” said Abhijeet Dipke, CJP founder and national convenor.

Jantar Mantar has long been a prominent venue for public demonstrations in the national capital. It has hosted campaigns for transparency and anti-corruption, demands by veterans for One Rank One Pension, protests by women wrestlers and farmers, and student-led agitations.

CJP argued that removing the site from the list of designated protest venues could reduce the visibility of public dissent by shifting demonstrations away from a prominent location in the capital.

“You cannot ask citizens to approach the authorities for permission to protest and then change the rules while they are seeking that permission. We went to the police station to ask for a date for our demonstration. Our demand was clear: tell us when we can hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar. Instead, the site was denotified. We will not accept a system in which the right to protest becomes meaningless in practice,” said Ashutosh Ranka, CJP co-convenor.

The party maintained that the issue goes beyond its demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, arguing that it concerns citizens’ ability to publicly question those in power at a venue where their demands can attract public attention.

CJP also said alternative protest venues could not automatically replace Jantar Mantar’s historical and civic significance, particularly for demonstrations concerning public institutions and electoral accountability.

Reiterating its position, the party said its demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation remained unchanged. It vowed to continue challenging the denotification of Jantar Mantar and pursuing its demand for electoral accountability, asserting that the decision would not deter it from engaging in peaceful democratic action.