CJP Mumbai protest today: Why Dipke zeroed in on Mumbai – There’s a Rahul Gandhi link - The Indian Express

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) will begin its much-anticipated ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park today. While the immediate trigger for the CJP protest against the CEC is the Express investigation, revealing the internal rift within the Election Commission, the choice to hold the protest in Mumbai is deliberate.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday, Abhijeet Dipke explained why.

“In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won only nine seats out of 48 seats. In the Assembly elections held six months later, the scenario changed altogether. How did this change happen?” he asked.

“It is in this context that we have chosen to start the agitation from Mumbai,” Dipke said.

Moreover, he explained in Marathi, “Delhi che hi takth rakhto Maharashtra maza [Even the Delhi throne is guarded by Maharashtra].”

For those unversed, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won only nine seats out of 28 contested. Along with its alliance partners Shiv Sena (7) and NCP (1), Mahayuti’s tally went up to 17 seats out of 48.

Whereas, Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress 13, Shiv Sena (UBT) 9, and NCP 8) together added to 30 seats. There was one independent.

Six months later, in the state Assembly elections, BJP emerged as the single-largest party, bagging 132 seats. With alliance partners, Shiv Sena (57) and NCP (41), Mahayuti’s share went to 230 seats out of 288 in the state Legislative Assembly. The Opposition MVA – Congress 16, Shiv Sena (UBT) 20, and NCP (SP) 10) – managed to bag only 46 seats.

Shortly after the state Assembly elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had launched an attack against the ECI for ‘vote chori’. He had explicitly cited the example of Vidarbha constituencies in Maharashtra to point out the alleged mismanagement in elections.

The permission to hold an agitation at the historic Shivaji Park was denied by the police. Unfazed, Abhijeet Dipke said, “We are fighting against those in power…We all remember Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the Britishers. Did the British ever permit him to agitate?”

According to senior journalist and peace activist Jatin Desai, “Mumbai has a historic past and a strong connection with Mahatma Gandhi. It was here in Mumbai (then Bombay) that Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India movement on August 9, 1942, at Gawalia Tank, now called August Kranti Maidan.”

On Thursday, the CJP also declared that their protest will also be held in other major cities, including Kolkata, Goa, Bengaluru and Ranchi.