A complaint was filed with the Mumbai Police on Friday against the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders for their protest at Shivaji Park against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Dipke subsequently announced the ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ at the venue. She told the news agency: “I have lodged a complaint against the CJP founders for conducting an illegal protest today. Despite the order of the Bombay high court, they decided to conduct the protest on the roads today.
She cited the Bombay high court order that the Mumbai Police had referred to when denying permission for the protest. They were not granted permission, and this is the letter issued by the Shivaji Park Police Station to Ajinkya Shinde…. Well, I am not against protests. Everyone has the right to protest, but there are designated places for protests. So why come onto the road and protest like this? “Why block the roads and traffic and sit outside other people’s houses to protest? What kind of protest is this? If you want the Election Commissioner to resign, then go and protest at Jantar Mantar, but not opposite our houses,” she added. “I really want to thank the Mumbai Police. They assured us—not just me, but many other citizens like me who went and complained. We simply needed assistance and wanted to feel secure. There were many people like me who approached the police, and we were assisted very well…I hope appropriate action will be taken against them,” she added. The protest comes days after Mumbai Police denied permission for the gathering at Shivaji Park, citing, among other issues, concerns over noise pollution, traffic congestion and disruption to movement in the area.
The complainant, identified by the news agency ANI as advocate Siddhi Deolekar, who said she has been a resident of Shivaji Park for the last 10 years, said that while she was not against the right to protest, there were “designated sites” for doing so. Deolekar thanked the Mumbai police for the assurance given to her, saying that she and others with her “simply needed assistance and wanted to feel secure”.
