CJP protest: CPM leaders Pinarayi Vijayan, John Brittas, MA Baby detained by Delhi police

The leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), including former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party general secretary M A Baby, were taken into custody ahead of the Jantar Mantar protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Delhi police took into custody three leaders - Pinarayi Vijayan, John Brittas MP and former Kerala finance minister KN Balagopal while they proceeded to Jantar Mantar.  While Congress stayed away, Left parties such as CPI(M) and CPI and Aam Aadmi Party had decided to join the protest organised by Cockroach Janta Party against the Special Intensive Revision of the Election Commission of India. CPIM leaders like Baby, M V Govindan, PK Sreemathy, Brinda Karat, KK Shailaja and P Rajeev were taken into custody soon after they came out of the Kerala Bhavan to proceed with a march to Jantar Mantar.  Initially, police proceeded with the detention of CPIM leaders, excluding Pinarayi, John Brittas and Balagopal.  The three leaders then tried to move towards Jantar Mantar and engaged in a verbal spat with the police. The leaders maintained that they were not defying the Section 163 order, which prohibited the march of more than four people. However, police soon took them into custody.  Pinarayi Vijayan, who is also the Opposition Leader of Kerala, told the media this is a murder of democracy.  “Attempts are made to snatch away the right of people to elect their government. Over 13 crore voters were disenfranchised. This was done by Gyanesh Kumar for the government. The government is trying illegal measures to protest Gyanesh. This protest will not end today,” he said. Pinarayi said that this was not a police state, but a democratic one. “This is happening because the ruling government has no respect for democracy,” he added.  John Brittas asserted that they will not buckle down under pressure. The Delhi police detained CJP leaders Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Dass from the flight immediately after it landed at the Delhi airport. Other leaders of the protest, including Druv Rathee and Ratna Singh, were detained earlier on Saturday.