Mumbai: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ in Mumbai on October 2, after Mumbai Police did not permit the outfit's proposed protest at Shivaji Park against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Election Commission.
Dipke said the CJP would launch the agitation if it was denied the right to protest, as the outfit seeks Kumar's resignation amid the ongoing row over the functioning of the poll panel and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“Mumbai Police has also denied permission for our protest on 2nd October. 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 said on X.
Gyanu Must Go! pic.twitter.com/pZc7CCjd9P
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) September 28, 2026
The Mumbai Police, however, clarified that it is not empowered to grant permission for a public gathering at Shivaji Park under a 2013 Bombay High Court order and subsequent Maharashtra government guidelines. The police said the ground is a designated silence zone and advised the organiser, activist Ajinkya Shinde, to seek an alternative venue in Mumbai.
The police communication also cited the lack of mandatory permission from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for use of the ground, as well as concerns over traffic congestion and the movement of emergency vehicles to nearby hospitals.
The CJP had earlier announced that it would begin a nationwide protest from Mumbai on October 2 and take it to cities across India if Kumar did not resign.
The mobilisation follows an Indian Express report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on several occasions over decisions and orders related to the SIR exercise.
The Election Commission has rejected allegations of disagreement over its SIR decisions, maintaining that decisions related to the exercise were taken with the “unanimous approval of the Commission”. The poll body has also said that differing views and observations are part of institutional deliberations and that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.
Dipke has also alleged that more than 13 crore votes had been deleted and questioned whether such action was consistent with democracy. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of internal disagreement over the SIR exercise.
What is a ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’?
‘Jail Bharo Andolan’, which literally means ‘fill the prisons movement’, is a form of civil protest in which participants deliberately court arrest in large numbers to demonstrate opposition to authorities or a policy. The tactic has historical roots in India's freedom struggle, when imprisonment and mass arrests became part of civil disobedience against British rule. It has also been used by various political and social movements in independent India.
Dipke's proposed October 2 agitation is being announced for Gandhi Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, and would use the same court-arrest form of protest as a demonstration against the Election Commission and its handling of the SIR row.
(With agency inputs from PTI & ANI)
