India's streets were filled with Gen Z protesters, led by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, on October 2, 2026, and he praised the Mumbai Police despite the protest turnout (Siasat, 2026).
Did the Mumbai Police approve the protest, and what was the Delhi Police's fault?
The Protest.
The CJP held a peaceful protest demonstration on October 2nd, 2026 against Chief Electoral Commissioner (CEC), Gynaesh Kumar, asking him to resign over the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral rolls. The protest resulted from media reports that have been ongoing about the case of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi (Outlook News desk, 2026).
They had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions in under 10 months over decisions made by the Electoral body on the changes made to the SIR, which they weren't aware of (Siasat). Although the reports state that the decisions were unanimous, Sandhu and Joshi's complaints over the past 10 months say otherwise, and this birthed the protest.
Their protest gave rise to another group of young people called Gen Next Mumbai. Their mission was simple: a counter-protest. They held their protest on the same day near the Statue of BR Ambedkar at Churchgate, while CJP held theirs at Shivaji Park. Their goal was to counter what CJP protested against, which was undermining the Constitution (Outlook News desk, 2026; Siasat, 2026).
There have been no clear reports as to who started the organisation, but social media influencer and political strategist Rhea Khanolkar and advocate Yash Mishra have been reported to be among them (Siasat, 2026).
The counter-protest was held because one of the protesters allegedly said Dipke had mentioned dismantling the Constitution. They also alleged that the CJP believed the Constitution was misleading people and was out to undermine public confidence in the Electoral Commission through their campaign (Siasat, 2026).
What happened on October 2nd?
The protest was held in Mumbai and had public figures like Naseeruddin Shah, musician Vishal Dadlani, and Senior Actor Prakash Raj via social media (Siasat, 2026).
But not everyone was okay with the protest.
Amidst the CJP protest, a Shivaji's park resident, Siddhi Deolekar, filed complaints against the organisation. It stated that the protest caused inconvenience as it spilt onto the roads near the residential buildings, and while CJP maintains its stance on the right to protest, the protest was never approved by the police (The Logical Indian, 2026).
The Mumbai Police denied permission because of concerns including traffic congestion, noise pollution, and disruption of movement. The party still went ahead with the protest despite the restrictions (The Logical Indian, 2026).
If the Police were against the protest, why did Dipke praise the Mumbai Police and criticise the Delhi Police?
In the report by itechguides, Dipke posted a message after the protest, thanking the officers for their cooperation. He thanked the Mumbai Police, saluting all who were on duty, and to the Delhi Police, his words were, as reported, “seekh lo kuch Mumbai Police se”, which is translated to "Learn something from the Mumbai Police" (itechguides, 2026)
This does not necessarily mean that the Mumbai Police were in support of the protest. In a report by Web Desk, Dipke had said that the Delhi Police were acting like henchmen of Amit Shah, a politician, by cracking down on peaceful protesters. About 1000 protesters had been detained in Delhi, whereas the Mumbai Police helped facilitate the peaceful protest (Web Desk, 2026).
References:
- itechguides. (2026, October 3). CJP Mumbai protest ends: Why Abhijeet Dipke thanked Mumbai Police. https://www.itechguides.com
- Outlook News Desk. (2026, October 5). Who are Gen Next Mumbai? The group that held a counter-protest against CJP in Mumbai. Outlook India. https://www.outlookindia.com
- Siasat. (2026, October 2). CEC protest: Dipke dares CM to arrest Shivaji Park, protesters. https://www.siasat.com
- The Logical Indian. (2026, October 3). 'This is not peaceful protest': Maharashtra resident files complaint against CJP leaders over Shivaji Park protest. https://thelogicalindian.com
- Web Desk. (2026, October 4). CJP's Abhijeet Dipke warns of October 10 protest. ARY News. https://arynews.tv