Mumbai Police Denies CJP Permission for October 2 Protest, Party Plans Jail Bharo

Mumbai Police has refused permission to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to hold a protest in the city on October 2, the outfit's founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Sunday.

Announcing the development in a post on X, Dipke criticised the denial, saying such measures to suppress citizens' voices were unacceptable. He added that if the party is not allowed to protest, it will launch a Jail Bharo Andolan in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti.

The CJP had earlier announced a nationwide protest from Mumbai on October 2 if Gyanesh Kumar did not step down as Chief Election Commissioner. The party had also said that if the CEC did not resign within 48 hours, India could witness a protest, including what it described as "Jantar Mantar 2.0".

The outfit has placed three demands before the authorities: the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and the initiation of criminal proceedings against him; freezing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and restoring the January 2025 voter list; and repealing the 2023 law governing the Election Commission, along with reforming the poll body.

The developments come amid an investigation into Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, who objected on record at least 14 times over 10 months to SIR-related decisions taken without their knowledge and to glaring gaps in processes.