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The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has announced a fresh protest against India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, renewing its demand for the cancellation of the voter list revision exercise and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The demonstration, titled “Jantar Mantar at Kochi”, will be held at Rajendra Maidan in Kochi, Kerala, on Saturday, November 7, from 4pm, the party announced in a post on social media platform X on Thursday.
Under the slogan “Save Democracy! Cancel SIR!”, the party has called on supporters to join the demonstration. Its campaign posters also carry the message “Remove Gyanesh Kumar | Cancel SIR”.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke is expected to attend the protest, alongside the party’s South Zone lead Vijay Mallangi and National Secretary Aafreen Nawaz.
The planned demonstration marks the party’s first major protest initiative since several of its leaders were detained in Delhi last month over their attempt to stage a demonstration against Kumar and the SIR exercise at Jantar Mantar.
On October 13, Delhi Police detained Dipke and other CJP leaders, including Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das, for allegedly attempting to organise a protest at Jantar Mantar without the required permission.
The government subsequently withdrew Jantar Mantar’s designated status as a protest venue.
In response, Das and Ranka entered the restricted area and waved the national flag in protest against the decision.
They were arrested and remained in custody for about a week before being released on October 21 after furnishing personal and surety bonds and submitting undertakings to maintain peace and comply with the law.
Dipke was also arrested in connection with a separate planned event at Central Park in New Delhi and was later released on conditional bail.
The CJP had also extended support to the opposition INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, although it did not participate in the Rahul Gandhi-led gathering.
The party’s latest move to organise a demonstration in Kochi signals its intention to continue its campaign against the voter roll revision outside the national capital.
The Election Commission maintains that electoral roll revision is intended to update voter records and remove duplicate or ineligible entries, while opposition parties have raised concerns over alleged wrongful deletions and the potential exclusion of eligible voters.
