Nearly 1,000 detained in Delhi, thousands rally in Mumbai as Dipke calls for October 10 protest

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leader Abhijeet Dipke on Friday announced that the organisation would stage a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on October 10 if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar did not resign, escalating a campaign that saw thousands gather at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park earlier in the day demanding the poll chief’s resignation.

Dipke announced the next phase of the agitation in a late-night post on X, hours after warning at the Mumbai gathering that the CJP would organise a “Jantar Mantar 2.0” if Kumar remained in office. “If Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign, cockroaches from across India will march to Delhi & protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10,” he said.

Protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar intensified across Delhi and Mumbai on Friday, with nearly 1,000 people detained in the national capital and thousands gathering at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, before Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke announced a fresh march to Jantar Mantar on October 10 if Kumar did not step down. The demonstrations centred on allegations surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claims that the Election Commission has rejected.

The late-night announcement marked an escalation of the agitation launched from Mumbai earlier in the day. Dipke said CJP supporters from across the country would travel to Delhi for what he had earlier described as “Jantar Mantar 2.0”, while insisting that the demonstration would be peaceful and follow Mahatma Gandhi’s path of non-violence.

‘Cockroaches will march to Delhi’

“If Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign, cockroaches from across India will march to Delhi & protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10,” Dipke said in a post on X late on Friday. He also warned that an attempt by Delhi Police to prevent protesters from reaching the designated venue would not stop the agitation, saying wherever they were stopped “will become our Jantar Mantar”.

Dipke said the protesters would remain peaceful. “We will walk on the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi,” he said, adding that it was for the government and Delhi Police to decide whether they would respect the right to peaceful protest or, as he put it, “repeat the brutality we witnessed on July 20”. The description of the July police action as “brutality” is Dipke’s characterisation; he has repeatedly cited that confrontation as a turning point for the CJP movement.

The CJP leader said the campaign was a fight to “save Indian democracy” and appealed to citizens who wanted free and fair elections to participate. His October 10 announcement came hours after he told the Shivaji Park gathering that the organisation would launch “Jantar Mantar 2.0” if Kumar continued as CEC.

Nearly 1,000 detained in Delhi

Earlier on Friday, Delhi witnessed large-scale police action as political leaders, student groups and activists attempted to gather at Jantar Mantar. Delhi Police, which had denied permission for the demonstration and imposed restrictions in the New Delhi district, detained nearly 1,000 people from the protest venue and surrounding areas.

AAP leaders Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Sanjeev Jha were among those detained. Members of AISA, SFI, NSUI and other student and youth organisations were also taken into custody as groups attempted to reach Jantar Mantar despite barricades and a heavy police deployment. Internet services were suspended around the protest site during the mobilisation.

Several Metro stations in central Delhi were temporarily closed amid the security measures before being reopened later in the day. Protesters accused police of using force during the detentions, including against women; those allegations were made by participating organisations. Police cited public safety while restricting the gathering.

Shivaji Park fills up

In Mumbai, meanwhile, thousands reached Shivaji Park despite police having denied permission for the CJP demonstration. Routes from Dadar railway station were barricaded and police had earlier turned back a truck carrying protest equipment and dismantled a temporary stage before permitting a smaller arrangement for the sound system.

Protesters waved the national flag and carried placards demanding Kumar’s resignation. Actors Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, singer-composer Vishal Dadlani and Tushar Gandhi were among those reported at the gathering. Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS also extended support to the agitation.

The protest deliberately coincided with Gandhi Jayanti, and Dipke repeatedly invoked Mahatma Gandhi while addressing the crowd. “Everyone here is Gandhi. Gandhi never dies,” he said, describing the gathering as a tribute to the freedom movement’s tradition of peaceful resistance.

Dipke raises stakes

Dipke told the gathering that the CJP had been forced to launch another agitation because, in his view, the authorities had failed to address the questions raised by the movement. He demanded Kumar’s resignation, criminal action against him and a freeze on the SIR exercise, while also seeking greater transparency in the process of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner. These are CJP’s demands and allegations, not established findings against Kumar.

Dipke also indicated that the movement could be sustained for months rather than restricted to a one-day mobilisation. CJP spokesperson Saurav Das separately told Reuters that protests would continue until Kumar resigned and said demonstrations were planned in Goa, Kolkata and Bengaluru during October.

At Shivaji Park, Dipke went further, warning that if Kumar did not resign, the movement would proceed to “Jantar Mantar 2.0”. He also said the campaign could subsequently turn its demand towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation — a political demand made by Dipke, rather than a conclusion about responsibility for the disputed electoral-roll process.

BJP holds counter-protest

The agitation drew a counter-mobilisation from the BJP in Mumbai. Maharashtra minister Ashish Shelar joined a protest in the Fort area and described the CJP campaign as a “grammar of anarchy”, reflecting the widening political confrontation surrounding the Election Commission and SIR.

The Election Commission and the government have denied allegations that the voter-roll revision was manipulated to favour the BJP. The Commission has maintained that SIR is intended to identify duplicate, deceased, shifted and otherwise ineligible entries and has said differences among Election Commissioners during internal deliberations are normal.

EC moves on left-out voters

The protests have intensified after reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised concerns multiple times over issues related to voter-list revisions, registration procedures and the Commission’s digital systems. The Election Commission has responded that differing views are part of institutional deliberations and do not establish wrongdoing.

On Friday, the Commission also directed officials to facilitate registration of newly eligible voters and eligible people omitted from electoral rolls in areas where the revision exercise had been completed. Opposition parties and protest groups have continued to challenge the SIR process, while the Commission has rejected their allegations of deliberate disenfranchisement.

October 10 next flashpoint

Friday’s demonstrations were not confined to the two metros. Protests demanding greater transparency in the electoral-roll exercise were also reported in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, while the CJP has outlined plans for further demonstrations in other cities. The INDIA bloc has separately announced an Opposition mobilisation beginning October 6, including a planned march by MPs towards the Election Commission.

The immediate focus, however, has now shifted to October 10. Dipke’s call for supporters from across India to converge on Jantar Mantar — coupled with his declaration that any point where police stop them would itself become the protest venue — sets up another potential confrontation in Delhi barely days after nearly 1,000 protesters were detained in the capital.