The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday revealed the time and venue of its Mumbai Chalo protest on October 2, seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gynaesh Kumar.
Taking to X, CJP posted, "Mumbai Chalo... Gaddar Gyanu must go, at Shivaji Park, 4 p.m. at Gate No. 6."
The announcement comes two days after Mumbai Police denied permission for CJP's proposed protest on October 2, citing high court directives. Following this, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke declared that the group will launch a "Jail Bharo Andolan" in Mumbai to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
"Such tactics to suppress citizens' voices are unacceptable. If we are denied the right to protest, CJP will launch a Jail Bharo Andolan in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti," Dipke posted on X.
Dipke last week said the upcoming CJP protest will be 'Jantar Mantar 2.0', hinting at a massive agitation on the lines of the July anti-NEET demonstration led by the outfit in Delhi.
The CJP call for protest came after a media report said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi has formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the ECI. These included addition, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process.
Dipke has urged opposition parties to stop participating in elections if they believe the electoral process is rigged. "Yes, elections are being rigged. But when you continue to participate in rigged elections, you legitimise these elections and help maintain the illusion that they are free and fair," he said.
"Maybe you keep contesting because you fear that if you don't, you will stop existing. But what kind of existence are you trying to protect when votes are being stolen, your MLAs and MPs are being poached, and your parties are being split?" he said.
"This is not political survival. You are simply trying to stay alive in a system that can weaken you, split your party or take away your elected representatives whenever it wants. How long can you survive like this?" Dipke asked.
"And you cannot talk about election rigging only when it happens in states that matter to you and remain silent when it happens elsewhere. If elections are being rigged, it should matter regardless of the state or which party is affected," the CJP convener said.
Major opposition parties have also come forward to support the CJP. Mamata faction TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee had earlier said that only the CJP can remove Gyanesh Kumar. "If CJP gives a real challenge, they can remove Kumar; no other political party can," he said.
