A scene from Shivaji park on Friday, October 2. Source: @SauravDasssss/X
Mumbai: Amid tight security around Shivaji Park on Friday, October 2, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) began its protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, despite the police denying permission for the agitation.
Addressing the protesters, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke said the Narendra Modi-led central government was so “incompetent” that they had to launch another protest within two months of the Jantar Mantar agitation over the NEET leak issue.
He also dared Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to send the protesters to jail.
The protest comes in the wake of recent media reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.
At the protest site, memes, movie dialogues, and slogans set the tone. Protesters carried placards reading “Gyanu, Tujha Democracy Var Bharosa Nay Kay?”, “Gyanesh BRO, JUST RESIGN” and “Gaddaar Gyaanu Must Go”. Even CJP shared a tweet saying, “Gyanesh bro! Just resign ya”.
The CJP co-convenor, Saurav Das, had already arrived at the park, while convenor Abhijeet Dipke was set to lead the agitation soon.
Sharing from its official X handle, CJP said, “Mumbai is up to something. Jai Maharashtra!” sharing visuals of hundreds of protesters gathered at the site.
In another post, it offered legal help to anyone detained during the protest. It said, “Hello cockroaches, the Mumbai legal team is all set.”
Senior actor Prakash Raj sent a video message via an X post. Wishing everyone a happy Gandhi Jayanti, he said, “…certain goons are trying to kill our citizenship, our democracy, through SIR. The youth of this country, the civil society, the cockroaches will not let this happen…”
Music composer Vishal Dadlani also joined the protest.
Actors Shabani Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah also joined the agitation. Dipke shared a video of Naseeruddin meeting him. In the video, Naseer can be heard thanking Dipke for what he was doing, even as Dipke tells the actor he’s a big fan of his.
Dipke also paid floral tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in South Mumbai to mark the birth anniversary of the father of the nation.
However, some locals were not happy with the situation the protest created. “The planned protest is disrupting the peace and daily life in our area. They are attempting to carry this out forcefully, and such protests should not be permitted in a residential zone,” a local said.
Elsewhere in the city, a group calling itself “Gen Next Mumbai” also staged a protest against the CJP. A protester accused Dipke of speaking about dismantling the Constitution and said the group had gathered for a peaceful protest to defend the Constitution, as reported by the Times of India.
A bunch of students in Latur, Gujarat, protested, accusing Dipke of abandoning the NEET paper leak issue and moving on to other matters.
They have sought answers from Dipke on the assurances they said the government had given after the CJP’s July agitation at Jantar Mantar.
(With PTI inputs)
This post was last modified on October 2, 2026 5:56 pm