Who Is Ajinkya Shinde? CJP Leader In Charge After Abhijeet Dipke's Detention

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)'s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, has been detained. So is its top leadership. Dipke's close associate, Ajinkya Shinde from Maharashtra, has now been tasked with leading the CJP protest over alleged electoral illegalities until other leaders are freed.Dipke made the announcement in a video posted on the CJP handle. "If you are watching this video, it means that I, Saurav Das, and Ashutosh Ranka have been arrested. In our absence, Ajinkya will lead the protest and the CJP movement. Please follow him," he said.IMPORTANT Until Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are in detention, CJP's Organization In-Charge Ajinkya Shinde will lead this protest at Jantar Mantar. Abhijeet had pre-recorded this video last night in anticipation of a potential arrest. @AjinkyaCJP https://t.co/WSQ69mKfTV— Cockroach Janta Party - CJP (@Cockroachisback) October 10, 2026Shinde urged supporters to keep pushing towards Jantar Mantar and stage a protest wherever they are stopped. "The government is scared of our unity. Please come to Jantar Mantar. If the police stop you, turn that very spot into Jantar Mantar," he said in a statement.Dipke, Das, and Ranka were detained from the aircraft they had arrived in from Mumbai this morning, amid police efforts to deter the protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar.Who Is Ajinkya Shinde?Ajinkya Shinde, 35, is a computer science graduate from Maharashtra. He worked with an international IT firm in Pune before joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a full-time worker. Reports suggest that his parents were farmers in Alibaug and later settled in Latur.READ | Detained Abhijeet Dipke Hands Over CJP Protest Baton To Ajinkya ShindeShinde has been a close associate of Dipke for years. They reportedly met first in 2016 in Goa and have been working together since then.Before deciding to quit his job, he had served as the AAP's convener for Pimpri-Chinchwad. After resigning, he dedicated a year to the Goa election work, but failed to secure a seat for the AAP. Thereafter, he moved to the AAP's Maharashtra team, where he served as a social media coordinator and the convener of its Maharashtra youth wing, according to multiple reports.READ | "Arrest Me": Abhijeet Dipke Detained From Plane Ahead Of CJP's Delhi ProtestBack in August, Dipke brought him into the CJP's national team and entrusted him with the responsibility of national organisation in-charge. But his entry to the CJP's national executive committee wasn't without controversy. Two volunteers from Gujarat had then accused Dipke of favouring his close associates in the CJP.In the party hierarchy, Shinde finds himself just below Dipke, Ranka, and Das, who had been the party's faces during the paper leak protests in July this year. His seniority is also established by the fact that he had been chosen to lead the movement after the top trio's detention.