India
oi-Ashish Rana
Abhijeet Dipke led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has started its planned ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Mumbai on Friday, 2 October. The protest is being held at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti despite Mumbai Police denied the permission.
Abhijeet Dipke’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ protest in Mumbai on October 2nd against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, questioning electoral roll processes despite denied police permission. The CJP plans further nationwide protests demanding changes in election commissioner appointments.
Why CJP Chose Mumbai
The CJP had announced that protest would begin at 4 PM near Gate no. 6 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park. Now CJP founder Dipke said Mumbai was chosen because of he major difference between election results of 2024 Lok Sabha Elections and Maharashtra Assembly election held within six months gap.
CJP has raised question about electoral rolls and how the Election Commission function. The protest started after an Indian Express report found differences within the poll panel over decisions related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. However, the Election Commission has made it clear that the decisions were taken through the prescribed institutional process.
Dipke Links Protest To Gandhi Jayanti
Dipke has defended the decision to hold the agitation on 2 October, referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s role in India’s freedom movement.
“We are fighting against those in power…We all remember Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the Britishers. Did the British ever permit him to agitate?” he said.
He also pointed to Mumbai’s connection with the Quit India Movement, which was launched in Bombay on 9 August, 1942.
Police Deny Permission
Mumbai Police refused permission for the protest at Shivaji Park, citing restrictions on gatherings at the ground, the lack of required civic permission, traffic concerns and possible noise pollution. Police also advised organisers to consider another venue.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said protesters could face arrest if they went ahead with the demonstration. Dipke responded with, “Mee punha yein [I will be back],” referring to a line associated with Fadnavis’s 2019 election campaign.
CJP Plans Protests In Other Cities
Dipke said the Mumbai agitation is only the beginning of a larger campaign. The CJP plans protests in Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ranchi before taking the movement to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
“It will continue till Kumar resigns,” Dipke said.
The CJP has also demanded changes in the process of appointing election commissioners and greater civil society participation. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has rejected allegations that its decisions were taken outside the prescribed institutional process.
