A protest at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan drew hundreds of Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists and student organisation members on Friday, with demonstrators demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and raising concerns about electoral accountability.
Organised under the banner ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’, the gathering was permitted by Mumbai Police, which deployed around 500 personnel around the South Mumbai ground to maintain law and order. Protesters carried the national flag and shouted slogans directed at the government and the Chief Election Commissioner.
The demonstration was also held in solidarity with CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, who were sent to five-day judicial custody on Wednesday after entering Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and raising slogans, according to the report. The CJP had initially sought permission to hold its protest at the Gateway of India but was not granted approval, activist Anjali Damania said.
Damania, who addressed the gathering and described herself as a CJP activist, sought accountability for what she called the “brutality” of Delhi Police towards protesters in the national capital. She also said the organisation’s demand was for Kumar to resign. Her remarks reflected the protesters’ position and were not accompanied in the report by a response from the Election Commission of India or the Chief Election Commissioner.
Damania alleged that 7.6 lakh votes were added to the final tally between 5 pm and 6 pm during the Maharashtra Assembly elections held in November 2024. She also claimed that Kumar had taken decisions without the involvement of the other two Election Commissioners. The report did not provide documentary evidence for these allegations or an independent assessment of the voter-count claim.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Sandip Deshpande, who attended the event, alleged that the Narendra Modi-led Union government was attempting to divert public attention from inflation and rising unemployment. His statement was made in the context of the protest and represented his political position.
The gathering illustrates how Azad Maidan continues to function as a designated venue for political mobilisation in Mumbai, while police permissions and security arrangements shape how public demonstrations are held in the city. In this case, the permission granted for Azad Maidan allowed the protest to proceed after the group’s request to gather at the Gateway of India was not approved.
The protest concluded with demonstrators continuing to raise slogans seeking Kumar’s resignation. No response from the Election Commission or the Union government was cited in the supplied report.
