New Delhi: With CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and two senior coordinators detained soon after arriving in Delhi, the party has placed its Maharashtra-based organiser Ajinkya Shinde at the centre of its renewed agitation at Jantar Mantar.
Shinde, 35, the CJP’s organisation in-charge, will lead the “Jantar Mantar 2.0” protest until Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are released. The three were detained by Delhi Police aboard their incoming flight at Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday.
Dipke had anticipated possible detention and recorded a video before travelling to Delhi. In it, he named Shinde as the person who would carry the movement forward in the leadership’s absence.
Protest To Resume On Sunday
The CJP has called on supporters to gather at Jantar Mantar at 10 am on Sunday and has said it will continue its agitation until Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns. The party has alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and seeks action over what it describes as manipulation of the voter list.
Shinde urged protesters not to disperse if they were stopped on the way to the venue.
“We call upon every citizen to march towards Jantar Mantar. If your movement is blocked by barricades or police personnel anywhere on the streets, do not stop — start your protest right where you are stopped. The nation’s movement to safeguard democracy and demand the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar will go on,” he said.
The renewed call followed a major security operation in Delhi on Saturday, during which police detained protesters, activists and political leaders at multiple locations, including routes leading to Jantar Mantar.
Who Is Shinde?
Shinde is from Ujani village in Ausa tehsil of Maharashtra’s Latur district. A computer engineer by training, he gave up his professional career to work in social and political activism, as reported by The New Indian Express.
He was influenced by Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and Arvind Kejriwal’s political campaigns. Shinde later joined the Aam Aadmi Party, worked in its Maharashtra organisation and handled party activities in Goa, before leaving to join the CJP.
His father is a retired teacher who now farms in Alibag. Shinde has previously said that criticism alone would not bring change, a belief that led him to leave his job and enter full-time public work.
Key Organiser Of July Protest
Within the CJP, Shinde is regarded as an important organisational figure rather than merely a stand-in leader. He is learnt to have helped plan and coordinate the party’s five-week protest at Jantar Mantar in July against examination paper leaks, including those linked to NEET-UG, and other testing irregularities.
His elevation comes at a time when the party’s senior leadership is in custody and its planned demonstration has faced extensive police restrictions. The CJP has said Shinde will coordinate the ground protest at Jantar Mantar.
Legal Support Announced
As detentions continued, the Indian Youth Congress launched a legal helpline on Saturday to help people facing detention or threats connected with the protests in the national capital.
The CJP’s demand for Kumar’s resignation is part of a broader set of demands that also include criminal proceedings against him, a freeze on the 2025 voter lists and repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of Election Commissioners.