Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Friday said his organisation, We The Leaders, does not support the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) because of differences in their objectives, but backed the group's right to protest.
“If you ask whether our ‘We The Leaders’ will support the CJP party, we will never do so. Because our goal is different, and their goal is different. However, if you ask whether the CJP party has the right to protest in India, yes, it does,” he said at an event on Thursday.
Annamalai had earlier described CJP's protest tactics as “misguided”, while asserting that the group had the right to oppose issues it considered important.
“As I mentioned yesterday, I might not agree with the tactics of the CJP, and I think many of theirs are misguided. But if you ask me whether they have a right to oppose/argue/protest on an issue that they think is important, I would categorically say — YES,” he said in a post on X on October 21.
Also Read | ‘Does BJP want Opposition votes to split?’ Annamalai backs CJP's right to protest
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | ‘Does BJP want Opposition votes to split?’ Annamalai backs CJP's right to protest
{{/usCountry}}Annamalai's remarks come amid a row over the Delhi Police's handling of CJP's protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai earlier this week, the former BJP leader criticised the police for detaining protesters, arguing that the action could strengthen the group's leadership rather than weaken it.
“To arrest them for a violation and again to drag them in terms of how they spend their time in jail, that is only going to make the leaders of CJP stronger. I'm afraid of it. The Delhi Police are doing a real disservice,” he said.
A day after making these remarks, Annamalai said he had faced social media trolling over his comments. He also questioned the restrictions on protests at Jantar Mantar and raised concerns about the powers exercised by police officials in cases involving preventive detention.
In a series of questions, Annamalai asked how long an assistant commissioner of police could continue to exercise powers as a special executive magistrate to decide whether a person should be placed under preventive detention.
CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by the Delhi Police and spent seven days in custody following an order by a special executive magistrate's court.
The former IPS officer also questioned whether any action had been taken over the alleged use of pellet guns by the Delhi Police or other alleged violations of standard operating procedures during protests linked to the NEET controversy.
He also referred to the burning of a cockroach effigy during Dussehra celebrations, saying he had looked into who was responsible for the incident and the publicity it received.
“I also recently saw a cockroach effigy burned as part of the Dussehra celebrations. Out of curiosity, I tried to find out who is giving this free publicity at a national level. No surprises here. It was led by a BJP MLA, Ashok Goel,” he said.