Gyanu must go: Mumbaikars get creative at CJP's anti-Gyanesh Kumar protest
“Gyanu must go.” “Democracy saaf.” And then, a Bollywood twist: “Vote churaya mera, kisne o sanam? Gannu ne.”
Thousands of young men and women turned up at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday, carrying placards of different colours and sizes targeting the poll body and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They answered the Cockroach Janta Party’s call to demand Kumar’s resignation, defying the police’s refusal to grant permission for the demonstration.
Security personnel were deployed in large numbers across central Mumbai, while routes from nearby Dadar railway station were barricaded. But the restrictions did little to stop protesters from making their way to the ground known for hosting major political rallies.
The protest drew activists, public figures and political backing as the CJP pressed for transparency in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and sought a freeze on the 2025 voter list, saying it should not be "tampered with further."
The party had announced the agitation after recent media reports said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders linked to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
However, the highlight was the creativity on display in the placards, which captured the mood of the protest. They read: “Gyanu, Tujha Democracy Var Bharosa Nay Kay?” (Gyanesh, don’t you trust democracy?), “Gyanesh BRO, JUST RESIGN” and “Gaddaar Gyaanu Must Go.”
Activists from the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF) were present at the protest. Veteran actors Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah, singer Vishal Dadlani, and activist Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, also attended.
Addressing the gathering, CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke said the Narendra Modi-led central government was so "incompetent" that the party had to organise another protest within two months of the Jantar Mantar agitation over the NEET leak issue. He also dared Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to send the protesters to jail.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, both of which have significant support in the Dadar area, extended support to the agitation. Some local residents, however, objected to the protest being held in their neighbourhood.
Police officials said they were keeping a close watch on the situation to maintain law and order and to ensure traffic was not affected. Earlier in the day, Dipke paid floral tributes at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in south Mumbai to mark Gandhi Jayanti.
The CJP announced its call for Kumar's resignation after the media reports on objections allegedly raised by Sandhu and Joshi to decisions and orders related to the Special Intensive Revision, with some of those orders said to have been issued without their knowledge.
The Election Commission later said that all decisions of the three-member panel, including those related to the SIR, were taken unanimously.
The protest at Shivaji Park brought together a large crowd, student groups, cultural figures and political support around the CJP's demands on the Chief Election Commissioner and the voter list, even as police maintained a heavy presence and monitored the area closely.- EndsInputs from PTI
