Ramdas Athawale on CJP protest: Amidst the heated political atmosphere against the Election Commission in the capital Delhi, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has made a scathing attack on the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and Congress. Athawale has advised CJP to stop the agitation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. He clearly said that CJP should focus on the issues of students and youth and not get involved in electoral politics. Along with this, he termed the protest called by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi as baseless and accused the opposition of deliberately spreading anarchy in the country.
‘The party was formed on NEET, all the demands were fulfilled… what is the problem now?’ Ramdas Athawale on CJP protest
While talking to the media on Sunday, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale raised questions on the existence of CJP. He said, “Cockroach Janata Party was formed over the NEET paper leak issue. You asked for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan, the government took cognizance and many of your demands were accepted. When your basic demands have been fulfilled, then what is the need to put a halt to the issue of Gyanesh Kumar?”
Athawale suggested that if CJP has to protest, then they should take to the streets for the welfare of the students. Talk about how the examination system should be improved and what the education policy should be. Demanding resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner should not be on his agenda.
CEC’s defense on claims of cutting off 13 crore voters
Athawale strongly defended Gyanesh Kumar on the opposition’s allegations of removing his name from the voter list. Citing the figures, he said that there are legal and logical reasons behind the removal of 13 crore names which are being talked about. Athawale said, “Out of these, there are about 6 crore voters who have shifted to another place due to job or business. There were about 1 crore names which were registered at two different places, so as per the rules, they were deleted from one place. Apart from this, about 3 crore people are going missing or cannot be traced. In such a situation, it is wrong to make absurd allegations on the Election Commission.”
‘When you went from 42 to 99, was the vote stolen?’ attack on rahul gandhi
Countering Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote stealing’ statements, Athawale raised tough questions. He said, “If there is rigging in the elections, then were BJP’s votes stolen from the seat from where Rahul Gandhi won? If Congress’s seats increased from 42 to 99, was it due to vote theft? When Congress was in power for decades, did they use to form the government by stealing votes?” Athawale alleged that demanding the resignation of the Election Commissioner is just an excuse, the real objective of the opposition is to harass the public and create anarchy.
Old warning to Deepke and possibility of conflict in Delhi
Athawale also reminded the old statements of CJP chief Abhijit Deepke. On October 3, he had warned that Deepke should stop making objectionable comments against Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis, otherwise RPI would take strict action against him.
This statement has come at a time when there are chances of a major conflict in Delhi on Monday. Congress has announced to mobilize workers from across the country and take out a protest march till the Supreme Court. At the same time, CJP is also going to seek permission from the police for a peaceful demonstration at 10 am. CJP has warned that if permission is not given within 24 hours, they will themselves decide the date and place and will take to the streets.