CJP protest in Mumbai demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar resign over voter list row

Demands for CEC resignation

Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday, defying a police ban to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the protest targeted the Election Commission’s controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke warned that the Mumbai demonstration was only the beginning. He announced that if Kumar does not resign, protesters will march to Delhi on 10 October to stage a protest at Jantar Mantar.

"If Delhi Police tries to stop us, wherever they stop us will become our Jantar Mantar," Dipke wrote on X. He added that the march would remain peaceful, following the path of Mahatma Gandhi, but challenged the authorities to respect their right to protest.

Targeting Prime Minister Modi

The protest took direct political aim at the central government. Addressing the crowd, Dipke linked the electoral commissioner's fate to that of the prime minister. "If Gyanu is gone, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also go," he told the crowd.

Another CJP leader, Ashutosh Ranka, accused the Prime Minister of relying on the Election Commission to maintain power. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shop is running because of the ECI," Ranka said. "Who is Gyanesh to take away Babasaheb’s Constitution?"

The demonstrators, holding national flags, chanted slogans such as "Gyanesh, it’s done, bro" and "Ek Jeera, Do Ajwain, Gyanesh karo resign" (One cumin, two caraway, Gyanesh must resign).

Concerns over voter lists

The opposition to the current voter list revision stems from allegations that the exercise has disproportionately affected vulnerable communities. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anish Gawande, who attended the rally, claimed that the names of transgender people lacking identity cards and flood-affected residents of Assam who lost their documents had been removed from the rolls.

Prominent public figures joined the protest, including actor Shabana Azmi, singer Vishal Dadlani, and comedian Rajiv Nigam. "Since childhood we have been hearing voting is our right, but if the same right is taken away, then what will we do? We protest," Azmi told the crowd.

Police estimated the crowd size at between 4,000 and 5,000 people. Around 800 police personnel, including riot control units, were deployed to monitor the park's perimeter.

Tragedy struck during the afternoon when 75-year-old Gopalakrishna Subbaiya Pillai from Thane, who had come to watch the protest, complained of chest pain. Police officers and friends helped transport him to the nearby Sushrusha Hospital, but he died of a heart attack, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Mahendra Pandit.

After the crowd began to disperse, a brief argument broke out between CJP supporters and right-wing groups over slogans, but police intervened quickly to defuse the tension.

Internal rifts in the Commission

The campaign against the chief election commissioner comes amid reports of internal dissent within the Election Commission itself. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders, some of which they claimed were issued without their knowledge.

The Election Commission has defended its actions, issuing a statement asserting that all decisions, including those regarding the SIR of electoral rolls, were made unanimously.

However, political pressure continues to mount. Beyond the CJP's planned Delhi march, local opposition parties are preparing their own demonstrations. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena (UBT) have scheduled a joint protest march against the Election Commission in Mumbai on 4 October.