‘Gyanesh, it’s done bro’ echoes as thousands join CJP protest seeking CEC’s resignation

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Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and co-convener Ashutosh Ranka during a protest by CJP against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation, at Shivaji Park, in Mumbai, on October 2, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI

Thousands of protesters demonstrated outside Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday (October 2, 2026) against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, organised by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Though police permission was not granted for the protest, the demonstrators sat outside the historic Shivaji Park’s gates in Dadar with the tricolour in their hands seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while CJP conveners Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das, and its head of legal affairs Ratna Singh, addressed the protesters raising slogans of ‘Gyanesh, it’s done, bro’.

The air was filled with slogans of ‘Inquilab Zindabad ', ‘Ek Jeera, Do Ajwain, Gyanesh karo resign’, ‘Gyanu kaka… rajinama dya, rajinama dya’, while the beats of patriotic songs like Rang De Basanti added colour, sound and defiance to an otherwise quiet afternoon at the park.

CJP has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and subsequent criminal proceedings against him to reveal who gave the orders for such an exercise, freeze the SIR process, restoring the January 2025 voters list, and repeal the 2023 law governing appointment of Election Commissioners and bring a new transparent mechanism with civil society participation.

Abhijit Dipke raised slogans of ‘Gyanu, it’s done bro’, saying: “If Gyanu is gone, then Nangu [referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi] will also go.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s shop is running because of the ECI. Who the hell is Gyanesh [Kumar] to take away Babasaheb’s Constitution,” said Ashutosh Ranka, adding that “this is just a trailer as the picture will be at Jantar Mantar in Delhi”.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Ranka said protesters should not fear action against them. “We should not be afraid of detention. We should not be afraid of being arrested. They will try to scare and threaten us, but we are not going to be afraid,” he said.

During the protest, prominent figures, including actor Shabana Azmi and singer Vishal Dadlani were also present. “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. We don’t need to tolerate this as it is our country and the Constitution of this country gives this right,” said Ms. Azmi.

Gangadhar Menon (70), one of the protesters and a teacher at Somaiya College, said: “So far, we were talking that VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail)had problems, but this has gone way too deep. Now, they are going for voters list itself.”

Comedian Rajiv Nigam, who also addressed the gathering, said: “The soul of Bharat Mata is democracy. And how does democracy become stronger? Through our right to vote. When our right to vote is taken away, all of us will have to raise our voices together.”

NCP leader Anish Gawande, who took part in the demonstration, also claimed that the SIR exercise had affected marginalised groups, claiming that “people from Assam who did not have documents because of floods” and “transgender persons without identity cards” had their names removed from electoral rolls.

Regarding the number of protesters gathered at the spot, a senior police official from Dadar present there said: “The inflow of people is reported to be around 4,000-5,000 and police force deployed is around 800, along with riot control police units.”

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