Cockroach Janta Party stages anti-SIR protest in Kochi

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) organised a protest in Kochi on Saturday to demand the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The march, titled “Jantar Mantar at Kochi”, began around 4 p.m. at Rajendra Maidan and attracted participants including party founder Abhijeet Dipke and actor-activist Prakash Raj.

Dipke told news agency ANI that the gathering was a “people’s protest” and said the party’s fight against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would continue until India has an “independent and impartial election system”. He also claimed that “votes are being deleted across the country”.

The protest follows the arrest of CJP co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka in Delhi after they entered the denotified Jantar Mantar site. Both were released on bail after being detained for violating a peace bond.

Union minister Jitendra Singh earlier alleged that CJP activists receive foreign funding, a charge the party rejected as “baseless”. CJP leaders questioned the minister’s accusations, noting previous meetings with government officials.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor commented that “we believe in democracy; let them protest”, while the party’s social-media posts urged supporters to “show up to save democracy”.