The grandmother of Abhijit Dipke, founder of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), has died. She died on Saturday aged 85 at Santuk Pimpri village in the Hingoli district of Maharashtra, of complications of old age and a long illness. It has not yet been confirmed whether Dipke has learned of her death. The information comes from the Indian news agency IANS.
Dipke arrived in Delhi from Mumbai on the day she died. He landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport with two associates to take part in the party’s scheduled programme at Jantar Mantar in the capital. They were detained before they left the aircraft.
The CJP has been demanding the resignation of India’s chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that tens of millions of voters were removed from the rolls. It had planned a rally at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday over that demand.
Dipke’s father, Bhagwan Dipke, and mother, Anita, are in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where police have taken up positions round their house. They are thought likely to travel to Hingoli after hearing of the death. There is no information yet on whether Abhijit Dipke will be allowed to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
Extensive security measures were taken in Delhi for the rally. Trains to Delhi from various parts of the country were cancelled to stop supporters coming to the programme, the report says. Delhi’s metro service was also shut to control the gathering at Jantar Mantar, and about 23,000 members of the central police forces were deployed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report