Mumbai police book CJP organisers and 500 supporters over Shivaji Park voter-roll protest

Mumbai: The crackdown on the voter-roll agitation moved to Mumbai on Saturday, as police registered a case against the organisers and hundreds of supporters of a protest at Shivaji Park demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The case was filed against Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) organisers and an estimated 400-500 supporters under Sections 189 and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita — unlawful assembly and disobeying a public servant's order — after the organisation held its demonstration despite the denial of permission. Police allege the protesters obstructed traffic and used loudspeakers without clearance. Abhijeet Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das were among those named in the FIR. Reacting to the case, Das said, "The FIR shall be quashed." The registration of the FIR comes a day after a 75-year-old attendee collapsed and died after suffering a reported heart attack near the protest venue. Police registered an accidental death report and handed the body to the family. The National Human Rights Commission has sought a report over allegations that minors were used to deter police action and over the circulation of children's images online from the agitation. The Mumbai action follows two days of Gen Z-led protests in Delhi on October 2 and 3, where around a hundred demonstrators removed barricades near the Election Commission's office, chanting "vote thief, leave the post" and "Gyanesh Kumar, step down". Senior opposition figures including Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav joined the Delhi protests; police shut metro stations and bus routes on Friday and charged some participants with violating gathering bans. On Friday, the Election Commission directed officials to register newly eligible and omitted voters. CJP has called a mass protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on October 10. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday announced a 'Satyagraha' portal, saying a lathi could stop a crowd but not a question. The portal would let citizens who face injustice — Gen Z, students, farmers, tribal communities, Dalits and women — share their stories on a common map, so people dealing with the same problem can find each other. Gandhi said he would raise such issues in Parliament, on the streets and through letters. On another front of the same battle over the electoral rolls, Karnataka BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra and former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Saturday demanded the withdrawal of cases registered against BJP workers who submitted bulk Form-7 applications during the Special Intensive Revision of the rolls. Form-7 is the Election Commission-prescribed mechanism for objecting to names on the rolls. The BJP alleged its workers were being targeted after Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and ministers protested before the Election Commission over alleged misuse of Form-7. Yediyurappa warned of statewide protests if the cases were not withdrawn. The twin actions — one against a voter-rights protest, the other against the ruling establishment's use of police against its own rivals' roll-scrubbers — capture how fiercely the fight over who gets to vote is now being waged.