President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has thrown its party’s weight behind the agitations led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while ruling out participation in joint activities with the Congress, which he has accused of betraying the movement.
The party’s decision surfaced at a meeting of DMK MPs chaired by Stalin on Saturday. A resolution was adopted at the meeting, which demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the scrapping of the SIR exercise and the restoration of ballot papers for casting votes.
MK Stalin
During the resolution, the party workers also accused the Congress and the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of resorting to double standards on electoral roll revision. They also referred to the CJP and other student-led stirs, extending their support to protests against SIT helmed by democratic forces.
DMK extends support to student-led movement
The party’s support for the protests follows the participation of its leaders in agitations against the electoral roll revision.
On Friday, the Deputy General Secretary of the DMK, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi expressed solidarity with young agitators in Chennai, saying, “The DMK stands with the youth of India.”
When asked whether the DMK would align with the CJP, DMK MP A Raja said the outfit had not yet evolved into a political party. However, he referred to Congress leader P Chidambaram’s assessment that the organisation could turn into a political force and leave an impact, Raja said he shared that view.
Despite supporting the stir, the DMK clarified that it would not join activities alongside what it termed ‘backstabbing’ Congress. The party alleged that Congress was trying to appropriate a campaign that had gained momentum by means of the mobilisation of students and youngsters.
A still from the protests in Delhi
Stalin calls out detention of CJP leaders
Stalin also slammed the detention of CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke ahead of the party’s proposed ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march in Delhi. In a post uploaded on ‘X’ on Thursday, the DMK supremo questioned the whereabouts of Dipke and Neha Bora, the President of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), calling their detention without disclosure of their whereabouts ‘illegal and inhumane.’
His post read, “Every attempt to crush the movement will only make it stronger,” and demanded their immediate release, as well as an end to the suppression of peaceful protests. He concluded his post with the hashtag #GyaneshKumarMustGo, adding that the Union government led by BJP had no other option.
CJP founder Dipke served notice by Delhi Police on Friday
Legal support kicks in for CJP
Earlier, Stalin had condemned the detention of CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das following a flash protest at Jantar Mantar. A separate post uploaded by him on ‘X’ read, “How many protestors can this government detain? How many young voices can the BJP silence?”
Furthermore, the DMK chief also pledged legal assistance to the CJP in its campaign, signalling continued support for the protestors even as the party maintains its distance from Congress over the handling of the anti-SIR stir.