MUMBAI: While several protesters were detained in Delhi, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest at Shivaji Park led by Abhijeet Dipke went off peacefully with Mumbai police earning praise and applause from Dipke.While the state govt remained non-confrontational as any untoward incident could lead to a larger protest and dent the govt’s image, the BJP took the lead in hitting out at the CJP.According to the Mumbai police special branch, the crowd had reached around 9,000 to 10,000 by about 4 pm. Police sources said people began arriving at the venue around noon, and the gathering had swelled to nearly 10,000 by 2 pm, prompting additional security arrangements.Even though permission for holding a protest at Shivaji Park was denied to the CJP, thousands made their way to the iconic park demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal.In a stark contrast to previous CJP protests in Delhi, the BJP-led govt in Maharashtra avoided any confrontation between the police and protesters, and there was no aggressive crackdown to make sure the protest did not turn ugly.A senior cabinet minister told TOI that CM Devendra Fadnavis had given ‘total freedom’ to the police and make sure that if the protest is democratic, it should remain peaceful.While BJP minister Ashish Shelar hit back at CJP, alleging that the “protest mongering CJP’s agitation is nothing but the grammar of anarchy,” the state govt did not create any administrative hurdles or use any force against the protesters.Political observers said the state govt was already embattled, with the severe drought in the state and other protests like the one against MPSC and the one by tribal students, and didn’t want to open another front right now.Speaking at the protest, Dipke described the Maharashtra police—and Mumbai police in particular—as the best police force in the country. He affectionately referred to the Mumbai Police as ‘OG Pookie” and “Kuchu Puchu.”“They are not like Delhi police,” he said, referring to the violence-marred CJP protest at Jantar Mantar in July. The protest went on peacefully till late evening even as Mumbai police deployed around 1,000 to 1,500 personnel, including reserve staff, to manage the gathering.The police did not allow the protesters to enter the Shivaji Park maidan and deployed personnel at the entrances to prevent the gathering from moving inside.The protesters instead assembled on the adjoining road, where the crowd continued to grow as dusk approached.“To avoid inconvenience to the public, particularly local residents, we made the entire road zero parking and cleared all the roads and stopped the crowd from assembling inside the ground. Anticipating the crowd, we had deployed enough constabulary in the area,” an official said.
