City group plans Mumbai protest despite lack of police permission

The Cockroach Janta Party plans to hold a protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday, October 2, its founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Thursday. The group’s demands include the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and criminal charges against him. It also wants the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls to be frozen and the process for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner to include civil society participation.

Dipke said the group would later hold protests in six other cities, with the campaign expected to conclude at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi by the end of October. He alleged that 13 crore names had been deleted from voter lists since 2024 and raised concerns about electronic voting machines. He called for elections to be conducted using ballot papers.

The source material presents these as Dipke’s claims and does not provide supporting evidence or a response from the Election Commission. Dipke also alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner was acting in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that, if Kumar did not resign, the protesters would seek Modi’s resignation as well.

The proposed Mumbai demonstration faces an immediate legal and administrative obstacle. Mumbai police have not granted permission for the event. The Bombay High Court is considering petitions concerning permission for public events at Shivaji Park, while Azad Maidan is the designated protest area in the city.

Asked why the group had not chosen Azad Maidan, Dipke said it wanted to protest at Shivaji Park. He also said he was prepared to face police custody and rejected suggestions that the movement was aligned with either the Congress or the ruling side. The source material does not say whether the group has obtained any court order permitting the protest.

It records Dipke’s intention to proceed despite the absence of police permission and the pending legal situation around public events at the venue.