CJP targets CEC, says ready for 3-month stir; AAP, Left lead protest in Delhi, over 500 detained

Targeting the BJP-led Central government, Dipke said it was so “incompetent” that the CJP had to launch a second protest in just over two months since the Jantar Mantar agitation against the NEET exam paper leak, which resulted in the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister. “We won’t protest for three days, but for three months,” Dipke said.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led the protests in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. (Express Photo)

“This was just the trailer and now Delhi remains,” Dipke said. “These protests will continue till Gyanesh Kumar resigns. Jantar Mantar 2.0 is loading; Amit Shah should not make the mistake that he did before. We request people to participate in large numbers.”

The CJP convener criticised the SIR exercise and invoked Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar, and Jawaharlal Nehru to emphasise the importance of Constitutional rights and the right to vote. “If Gandhi is the soul of India, Ambedkar is the backbone, and Nehru the mind,” he said.

Dipke dared Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to send the protesters to jail. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray have a significant support base in the Dadar area, where Shivaji Park is located, and extended support to the CJP protest.

CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka also targeted the Centre, asking if citizens who do not support the BJP should have their voting rights taken away. Dadlani sang “Mera rang de basanti chola” before modifying the lyrics to call on the CEC to step down.

Both Dipke and Dadlani thanked the police “for their cooperation”. The police said 300 personnel from the Mumbai Police and other additional forces were deployed. “No one was detained as a precautionary measure; all the roads leading towards Shivaji Park were blocked. The roads were cleared after the protest ended in the evening. The situation is peaceful,” said the police.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) led the protests in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. (Express Photo)

Among those at the protest was 34-year-old Pune resident Kushal Gupte who said he travelled to Mumbai because he believes public trust in the electoral system has taken a hit. “The system has failed everyone and the trust in the Election Commission has been totally lost. To regain trust, Gyanesh Kumar should resign,” he said.

A teenager from Kurla in Mumbai, who was at the protest with her father and sister, said she was participating because of concerns about the future of democracy and the rights of women and other vulnerable groups.

Delhi protests

While the Mumbai protest went ahead despite the police denying permission for the demonstration, Delhi Police detained 550 protesters after refusing permission for a protest at Jantar Mantar. The police imposed prohibitory orders in the area, while Delhi Metro temporarily closed entry and exit at 12 stations in central Delhi.

The police said all protesters were released by evening. While a source in the police said no case had been filed yet, they are investigating the role of the protesters. The police denied manhandling any of them.

Among those detained were AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and Sanjay Singh; Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha, AISA leader Neha Bora, Swaraj India member Yogendra Yadav, and activists from CPI(M)’s student outfit SFI and Congress’s student wing NSUI.

Before the protesters started gathering and making their way towards Jantar Mantar in the morning, the police sealed off the area around the Parliament Street police station and Jantar Mantar. Officials said more than 4,000 police personnel were deployed in the area, which was divided into multiple zones, each headed by a DCP-rank officer. Drones were also used to monitor the protest site.

Bharadwaj arrived around 10.30 am and told reporters, “Protesting is our democratic right. But the police are telling us permission for the demonstration has not been granted … even though six days ago the AAP applied for permission here for a peaceful demonstration.” The police detained him soon afterwards.

In a video shared on X from a police station after being detained, Atishi said, “We were protesting peacefully at Jantar Mantar. The Delhi Police picked AAP leaders and workers with barbarism and brutality.”

Over the next five hours, protesters arriving from Ashoka Road, Janpath, and Tolstoy Road were loaded into buses and taken to Fatehpur Beri and Badarpur police stations. By the time Bora arrived, flanked by Yogendra Yadav and RTI activist Nikhil Dey, hundreds had already been detained. The three were detained soon afterwards and were loaded into a bus.

“The protest is against Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission. But I feel there’s a larger context. The resignation of CEC Gyanesh isn’t the only thing. People are upset over SIR. This is about disenfranchisement of millions of voters,” said Pawan, a 36-year-old IT professional based in Andhra Pradesh.