A protest rally organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at the Dr B R Ambedkar statue near Pune District Collectorate on Saturday evening drew several groups and citizens demanding the release of detained activists, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The demonstration continued peacefully from 4 pm to 6.30 pm, with no protesters detained by Pune police.
Police deployed personnel at the site while the CJP used a van as a stage. Volunteers distributed Tricolour flags and placards, and protestors raised slogans including “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “Jai Bhim” and “Laal Salam”. Songs including “Sadda Haq”, “Aithe Rakh” and “Rang De Basanti” were played during the gathering.
The protest was called after CJP activists Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained by Delhi Police on October 13. According to the report, the two allegedly climbed over police barricades to enter Jantar Mantar in New Delhi while carrying national flags and shouting slogans. A court later remanded them to five days in judicial custody, after which they were jailed.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke subsequently called for nationwide “Lehra Do Tiranga” protests. Delhi Police arrested Dipke, who was released on conditional bail on Saturday while demonstrations supporting him were under way in Pune. Protesters at the Pune rally cheered after receiving information about his release.
Activist Supreeth Ravish of the Bhagat Singh Jan Adhikar Yatra demanded that the SIR be declared null and void and called for re-elections in states where the revision had been conducted. He also demanded action against Kumar. His allegations about the electoral exercise were made during the protest and were not independently established in the report.
Niharika Bhosale, who had participated in the agitation, also addressed the Pune gathering. She had been among young people detained by Madhya Pradesh Police at Itarsi Railway Station on October 10 before they could travel to the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar. Bhosale criticised the government’s decision to de-notify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and said peaceful protest was a fundamental right.
Chandan Salunkhe, an office bearer of Shiv Sena (UBT), said the agitations should continue until Kumar resigned. Protesters also demanded a ban on electronic voting machines. The rally ended with the national anthem.
A separate demonstration with similar demands was held by activists of the Jawab Do movement on a footpath outside Chhatrapati Sambhaji Garden on J M Road in Pune on Saturday evening. The demonstrations placed the management of protest spaces, police action and the right to peaceful assembly at the centre of the city’s public debate.
