NEW DELHI: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) member Ratna Singh hit back at BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra over his ‘flop show’ remark on the anti-CEC protest in Delhi, questioning the heavy security deployment and detentions ahead of the demonstration.“You lock every door and then cry that nobody showed up,” Singh said in a post on X, responding to Patra’s claim that the protest by what he described as “anarchist elements” had failed.Ratna said Delhi had been turned into a fortress, with G20-level security and people being detained. She urged the authorities to allow protesters to assemble at Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site.“Let us protest at Jantar Mantar, our designated protest site. Stop shitting your pants, respect our fundamental right to protest, and let the people’s voices be heard. Or are you afraid of what happens when people are actually allowed to speak?” she tweeted.What Sambit Patra saidEarlier, Patra had dismissed the protest, saying the developments at Jantar Mantar did not reflect the mood of the country.“Jantar Mantar’s story is not India’s story. What is happening at Jantar Mantar, what you can see on TV and a few social media handles, is not India’s story. India is calm and going ahead under good governance,” he said.Patra alleged that “a few anarchist forces” had been spreading unrest in a corner of Delhi over the past few days and claimed that their protest had failed.“The flop show of anarchist elements has completely collapsed,” he said.He also alleged that the protesters had attempted to hold the national capital captive and create a situation involving arson and violence.“But today, ‘loktantra’ has triumphed over ‘bheedtantra’,” Patra said.CJP legal affairs head moves Delhi CourtSeparately, Ratna Singh, the legal affairs head of CJP, has approached a Delhi court seeking registration of an FIR against police personnel, alleging that she was wrongfully confined and prevented from attending the October 10 protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.In an application filed before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abhinav Pandey at Saket District Court, Singh sought directions for registration of an FIR and a status report from the police regarding the alleged incident.According to the plea, Singh was sitting in a car with advocate Tara Narula after returning to the area outside her residence when she was allegedly prevented from moving. It claimed that two cars blocked her vehicle from the front and rear, while police personnel remained outside.Singh alleged that she was wrongfully restrained and that the police personnel did not explain the legal basis for the alleged restriction despite her asking them to do so.The plea comes amid protests by members of the legal fraternity against Gyanesh Kumar. The proposed demonstration has brought the right to peaceful assembly and the role of police in regulating protests into focus.
