Memes, slogans and celebrity support mark CJP protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park

Young protesters gathered at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Friday for the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The demonstration featured satirical placards, slogans, celebrity support and calls over reported internal objections concerning electoral roll decisions

Mumbai: A wall of police barricades and the severe heat failed to dampen the energy at Shivaji Park on Friday, as wave upon wave of young protesters gathered for the Cockroach Janta Party’s agitation, wielding placards with satirical memes and film dialogues to target Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protest evolved into a star-studded affair as veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, alongside filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj and Hansal Mehta, singer-music director Vishal Dadlani and Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, joined young agitators.

Despite opposition from Shivaji Park residents and heavy security deployments extending up to Dadar station, protesters filled the locality with revolutionary slogans, Gandhian quotes and signs calling for Kumar’s immediate resignation.

Waving tricolours alongside posters declaring “Gyanu, Tujha Democracy Var Bharosa Nay Kay?”, “Gyanesh BRO, JUST RESIGN” and “Gaddaar Gyaanu Must Go”, activists from groups such as the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and youngsters thronged the area.

Demonstrators brought unconventional props to highlight their demands, including Manish Mandal, a student from Sion, who sported jewellery fashioned from “Melody” chocolate wrappers while holding a banner with “Fraud detergent powder” written in Devanagari script.

Groups affiliated with the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) from Pune added rhythm to the demonstration by playing musical instruments while leading chants of “Chale Jao”, “Vapas Do” and “Band Karo” near the park’s perimeter.

Coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, the protest stage featured quotations on non-violence and simplicity alongside tributes invoking Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Although the demonstration was scheduled for 4 pm, CJP activists and other protesters began congregating near entry points by early afternoon, prompting the Mumbai Police to erect barricades and restrict vehicular access near Sena Bhavan.

The Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force also stationed extra personnel at Dadar railway station to prevent commuter disruption.

The CJP announced its protest demanding CEC Kumar’s resignation after recent media reports found that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.

The Election Commission later clarified that the three-member commission took all decisions, including those relating to the SIR, unanimously.