CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke described the Mumbai protest as only a “trailer” and called for a nationwide “Delhi Chalo” mobilisation, with supporters expected to converge on Jantar Mantar for a larger second phase of the campaign against CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
BY PC Bureau
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, October 2: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday sought to turn the party’s protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park into the launchpad for a much larger mobilisation in Delhi, telling supporters that the Mumbai agitation was only a “trailer” and calling for a “Delhi Chalo” campaign culminating in a fresh Jantar Mantar protest.
Speaking at the CJP’s protest on Gandhi Jayanti, Dipke outlined a nationwide mobilisation aimed at bringing supporters from different parts of the country to the national capital for what he described as the next phase of the movement.
The CJP is demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The organisation has also demanded criminal proceedings against Kumar, a freeze on the SIR exercise and restoration of the January 2025 electoral roll, besides changes to the process for appointing election commissioners.
The Mumbai protest was the first major event in a campaign that CJP has said will move through several states before returning to Delhi. The party has announced demonstrations in cities including Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, with a larger protest at Jantar Mantar planned towards the end of October if Kumar does not resign.
🚨 “DCP Sachin Sharma is Amit Shah’s General Dyer. He was responsible for the brutal crackdown and didn’t spare even little girls.” — @abhijeet_dipke
Dipke has accused DCP Sachin Sharma of overseeing the crackdown during the protest. The “General Dyer” comparison is Dipke’s…— Samridhi (@samridhi_i) October 2, 2026
‘Mumbai is only the trailer’
Addressing supporters at Shivaji Park, Dipke presented the Mumbai mobilisation as the beginning rather than the culmination of the campaign.
He called for a “Delhi Chalo” mobilisation and urged supporters from across the country to prepare for what he portrayed as a second and larger Jantar Mantar agitation — effectively a “Jantar Mantar 2.0”.
The strategy marks a deliberate return to the location where the CJP conducted its earlier extended agitation over examination-related issues. That campaign culminated in the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in July. The CJP has since sought to replicate that pressure campaign around the Election Commission and the SIR controversy.
Dipke has repeatedly invoked the earlier Jantar Mantar mobilisation as evidence that a sustained street campaign can force political accountability. The CJP has maintained that its present agitation will continue until Kumar resigns.
The organisation has also stressed that it intends to remain separate from the Opposition parties’ planned October 6 protest against the Election Commission. Dipke said the CJP would continue to operate as an independent movement rather than join a political alliance.
Abhijeet Dipke Entry in Protest
Bro Cooked Politics📍 Shivaji park, Mumbai pic.twitter.com/gG2UiGKtsF
— CJP Gems 💎 (@GameonNewbie) October 2, 2026
Warning to Amit Shah
Dipke also revived his criticism of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the police action during the CJP-led “Sansad Chalo” march in Delhi on July 20.
In his Mumbai remarks, Dipke warned Shah against any repeat of what he described as the government’s mistake of ordering force against students. He said that if a similar police crackdown were ordered during the new mobilisation, the political consequences, in his view, would be far more serious and could result in a demand for Shah’s resignation.
Dipke has previously made the same allegation in stronger terms, claiming that the July 20 police action against students could not have taken place without directions from the Union Home Ministry and demanding Shah’s resignation. Those claims are Dipke’s allegations and have not been independently established.
Ahead of Friday’s Mumbai protest, Dipke had already warned Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis against repeating what he called Shah’s “mistake” of July 20.
“You should not make the same mistake Amit Shah committed on July 20,” Dipke said at a Mumbai Press Club interaction on Thursday, according to The Statesman. He added that if authorities wanted to arrest him, they should do so immediately, saying the movement would return to the streets.
On Friday, Dipke contrasted the Mumbai police response with the July confrontation in Delhi, describing the Mumbai police as “cute” for their handling of the protesters and sharply criticising a Delhi Police officer over the earlier crackdown. Those descriptions were Dipke’s own remarks.
READ: From Delhi to Mumbai, Massive Protests Target Gyanesh Kumar Over SIR
Delhi already sees fresh crackdown
Dipke’s call for a larger Delhi mobilisation came as the capital itself witnessed a separate protest against the Election Commission on Friday.
Student organisations, civil society groups and Opposition leaders attempted to gather around Jantar Mantar demanding Kumar’s resignation. Delhi Police had denied permission for the proposed gathering and imposed prohibitory restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
More than 500 protesters had been detained by early afternoon, including former Delhi chief minister Atishi, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj and AISA leader Neha Bora. Other reports put the number of detentions at around 700 as the police operation continued.
Security forces erected barricades around Jantar Mantar and other parts of central Delhi, while entry and exit at a number of Metro stations was temporarily closed as authorities sought to prevent large gatherings around the protest zone.
The developments gave Dipke a fresh reference point for his warning that attempts to prevent protests could instead broaden the movement.
CJP seeks nationwide mobilisation
The CJP’s present campaign was triggered in part by reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on multiple occasions over decisions concerning voter additions and deletions, registration procedures and electoral technology.
Dipke has used those reports to question the functioning and independence of the Election Commission and has alleged that millions of eligible voters have been excluded from electoral rolls through the SIR process. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing and maintained that its procedures are intended to identify duplicate, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries.
The CJP’s stated objective now goes beyond a single protest in Mumbai. Its announced sequence is to take the campaign to different parts of the country and then bring supporters to Delhi for a much larger mobilisation at Jantar Mantar.
For Dipke, Friday’s gathering at Shivaji Park was therefore not the climax of the campaign but its opening act.
The immediate test will be whether the CJP can translate the Mumbai mobilisation into the nationwide “Delhi Chalo” movement it has announced — and whether its proposed Jantar Mantar 2.0 can attract the scale of participation that Dipke is seeking.
