A couple of days after the ‘burger row’, Vijeta Dahiya responded to being removed as the spokesperson for the Cockroach Janta Party, claiming he was “made a scapegoat” in the situation.
Event Context
Dahiya recalled CJP convenor Abhijeet Dipke’s call before he was leaving for the Jantar Mantar, wherein the latter told him not to come to the protest site and informed him about his removal.
The former CJP spokesperson said his “heart broke” after being sacked, adding that he had been at the protest site for the past two nights in case there was a police crackdown. He further said that he had strongly defended Dipke when the CJP convenor had faced criticism for his ‘kachori’ video and or standing on a truck during the protest march.
The controversy erupted after a video, whose authenticity has not been independently verified, purportedly showed Dahiya at a popular fast-food outlet in Delhi during Monday’s Parliament march organised by the CJP. The video went viral, with social media users questioning Dahiya’s absence from the protest site while demonstrators were allegedly being lathi charged and detained by the police.
In a video message posted to his Instagram account, Dahiya said he had faced two incidents while travelling to and from Jantar Mantar, following which he had received several phone calls from friends and family members asking him to “be safe.”
“You were fired from CJP, how did you like it? To tell you the truth, my heart broke. Actually, two such incidents happen to you in a single day. Once, when I was coming home from Jantar Mantar, I was on the metro and then when I was coming back to Jantar Mantar, the Manuwadis came there and started heckling,” Dahiya said in the video.
Also Read | ‘I was hungry’: CJP sacks spokesperson Vijeta Dahiya after he defends leaving protest march, eating burger instead
He added, “I started getting calls from my friends asking if there was any trouble and asking me to be safe, got messages expressing solidarity with me.” Dahiya said that Dipke had also called him following the incident, adding that he first thought it was to extend support.
“All of a sudden I saw Abhijeet is calling me, and at that time I was just getting ready to go to the protest site. So I thought that he too has called me assure that I need not worry, and to tell me ‘we are in this together’,” Dahiya said. However, he said that over the phone call, Dipke and CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka asked him to not visit the Jantar Mantar protest site.
“And then suddenly, Ashutosh and Abhijeet both said Vijeta please don’t come. When I asked what happened, they replied saying ‘No no, the burger matter took place,’” Dahiya said.
Dahiya claimed he had been at the protest site for two nights before he was removed, and was present at the Jantar Mantar till the protest march to Parliament had begun, saying Dipke was aware of his participation.
“The trolls may spin nonsense but you know I have been there for the past two nights thinking there might be a police crackdown, I have been moving around the site and haven’t sat for a minute. Our march was supposed to start at 9 am, it got delayed. Till then I was there at the site,” Dahiya said, adding that he had confronted Dipke on the call.
“We thought people should remain here (at Jantar Mantar) so that police doesn’t vacate the site. But then we were energised, so we participated in the march too. Sheetal and Sourav, who were on the fast, were also with me. We went to the Kerala House area where our eyes were burning because of the tear gas. I asked Abhijeet, “You can see this right?”” Dahiya added.
Team Analysis
Dahiya, in the video post, said he had been “actively debunking propaganda” against the CJP and defending Dipke when he was removed as the spokesperson. “When I was actively debunking propaganda, I got a call that my team mates had made me a scapegoat. So I felt bad,” Dahiya stated.
He said he had “strongly defended” Dipke and the CJP in multiple instances. “If this was the issue, then a video of you eating Kachori also went viral. And I defended you so strongly. And in fact till now people are saying you stood on the truck. On that too, I defended saying you were the one who got slapped. I said, ‘I have also received death threats and heckling and the brutality was done by the police, but you are holding CJP responsible,’” Dahiya asserted.
