Abhijeet Dipke leads 'Jail Bharo' protest at Shivaji Park, Dadar, under heavy police presence

A protest led by Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke was held at Chhatrapati Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mumbai, on October 2, 2026, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. It was called to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and was named the 'Jail Bharo' protest.

A group of 15 to 20 people reached the venue and began shouting 'Jai Shri Ram'. To prevent any untoward incident, the police stepped in promptly and led the sloganeering group away from the spot.

In his speech, Dipke made sharp remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He said, "Today you have all come here in such large numbers. There can be no greater tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Every person present here is Gandhi. The RSS people have troubled us more than they troubled Mahatma Gandhi. But Gandhi does not die. Gandhi is the soul of this country. Thousands like Godse will come and thousands will go. But in this country there are people who follow Mahatma Gandhi's ideas and his path. The country stands on his ideas alone."

Dipke went on to say, "To those who hold Godse's views, we want to say that you can never finish off Mahatma Gandhi. A great man comes and says he is non-biological. We too understand that you cannot be human. They want to show themselves as bigger than Gandhi and Nehru, but that is not possible in this lifetime, let alone the next seven." He also said, "You do not have the standing to match Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar. Gandhiji is the soul of this country, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar is its backbone and Jawaharlal Nehru is its mind." With these words, Dipke criticised the government.

Dipke also said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi only knows how to fleece the public, he has nothing to give the country. With demonetisation he made people stand in queues, during Covid he made them stand in queues for vaccines, and now he is asking them to queue up to get their names on the voter list."

The protest affected traffic in the Shivaji Park area. With a crowd expected, congestion built up in the area. The police put up barricades and placed restrictions on movement.

Shivaji Park is considered a sensitive area and a 'silence zone'. Local residents complain that repeated political protests disturb the peace there. They say the tense atmosphere is hurting the livelihoods of nearby shopkeepers, that crowds and noise are causing needless distress to the elderly and small children, and that emergency vehicles such as ambulances in particular are finding it hard to move.

Mumbai Police had not given official permission for the protest, citing a 2013 High Court order. Even so, Cockroach Janta Party workers gathered there, so a large police contingent was deployed in the area.