MUMBAI: Despite the police’s denial of permission, over 10,000 protesters gathered at Dadar’s Shivaji Park on Friday as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a demonstration against alleged electoral roll deletions, demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.The crowd, estimated between 9,000 and 10,000 by Mumbai police’s special branch around 4 pm when the protest began, remained largely peaceful, marked by orderly movement and a rapport between demonstrators and security personnel, who managed the venue with dedicated public address systems while receiving claps and cheers from the gathering.In the hot and humid weather, protesters said, “Mumbai police we love.” The crowd booed references to Delhi police, shouting, “Jo karna hai karlo par hum final Jantar Mantar mein hi khelenge.”Taking centre stage, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke launched an attack on political defections and the governing alliance, pointing out that 111 MPs and MLAs had switched parties in recent years, with 99 of them joining BJP or its allies. Suggesting mockingly that politicians might as well be traded openly, Dipke asked, “So why don’t we just have an IPL-style auction for them instead directly?”Warning that failure by the CEC to resign would prompt nationwide Gen Z marches to Delhi, Dipke stated, “If Gyanu doesn’t resign, Nandu will have to resign, because he is the one actually rigging elections. If Gyanu doesn’t go, all the Gen Z of the country will go to Delhi to protest.” Urging the crowd to “fight even for the people you don’t know,” Dipke concluded his address with a line from the Maharashtra state anthem: “Delhi che hi takht rakhito Maharashtra mazha.”Police deployed heavy bandobast in and around Shivaji Park to maintain law and order. Barricades were erected to prevent vehicles from approaching the protest site, while police personnel managed the crowd to avoid any untoward incident. As people arrived at the protest site in small groups, police were able to maintain a smooth flow of traffic in the area outside the protest site.Invoking national icons, Dipke said, “They thought once Gandhi is shot he will be finished, but he is immortal; there is a Gandhi in each and every one here. This country is dependent on ideals of Gandhi. In the same way, Ambedkar is the backbone, and Nehru is the mind of India.” He said the government repeatedly made citizens stand in lines, stating, “They taught us what democracy was, they taught us about our rights, about elections, about democracy, and what Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is. Whereas this govt only wants us to stand in line, first during demonetisation and now for Special Intensive Revision (SIR).”Brushing aside CM Devendra Fadnavis’ warnings of sending them to jail, Dipke said, “Fadnavis said we would have to spend 3 days in jail without bail, but to him I say: You are the chief minister of Maharashtra who has a certain legacy and culture, and threatening young children this way is wrong. Even if you keep us in jail for 3 months, not 3 days, I’ll keep coming again and again and again.”Compared to CJP’s earlier protest in June, Friday’s event demonstrated better organisation, featuring a dedicated team of digital content creators and trained marshals managing crowd flow as patriotic numbers played in the background.Dipke said Hindu-Muslim ‘divisive’ politics would not work in Maharashtra, declaring, “This country will only move ahead if Hindus and Muslims stay together, and whoever wants to do such politics, let them go to Pakistan and do such politics.”He accused the CEC of being brought in to widen the narrow 2% vote gap between the winning coalition and the opposition through voter roll deletions. CJP co-founder Ashutosh Ranka alleged nearly 13 crore names had been erased over two years.A regular CJP member addressing the crowd said questioning the govt stems from patriotism rather than anti-nationalism, stating, “BJP is not India, and India is not BJP.”Bollywood singer Vishal Dadlani, who was also present, alleged, “They have even removed my name from the voter list because they know I will never vote for them,” while comedian Rajeev Nigam said, “My work is making people laugh, but when people start making people cry, artists like me have to come forward.”Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi said, “Mumbai has shown it is not less than Jantar Mantar, and whenever change has come in the country, it has started from Mumbai.”Several Shivaji Park residents cited noise and disruption of normal daily life to oppose CJP’s stir. Lyricist Javed Akhtar stated on X he was glad some residents had raised concerns and added he was “sure” they would similarly object when a party organised a public meeting at the Park.
