Raj and Uddhav Thackeray announce protest march against EC on October 4, invite opposition parties to join

Raj Thackeray said, "A joint protest march will be held on the 4th. The march will proceed from Byculla to the BMC headquarters. This protest will be directed against the Election Commission."

The MNS chief said his party had been raising questions over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the functioning of the Election Commission for several years.

"For several years, we have consistently raised questions regarding EVMs and the arbitrary actions of the Election Commission, yet no solution has been found so far," he said.

"I would like to invite all parties to join this protest march," Raj Thackeray added.

He also extended support to the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) proposed "Jail Bharo Andolan" against the Election Commission.

"We will extend our full support to the CJP's 'Jail Bharo' movement," the MNS chief said.

The announcement comes amid intensifying Opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demands for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police sources said on Tuesday that no permission has been granted so far for a proposed protest at Jantar Mantar on October 2 against Kumar.

AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj had on Monday made a public call for people to join the Jantar Mantar protests. Other Opposition groups are likely to join or hold parallel protests.

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has announced a "Jail Bharo Andolan" at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on October 2 at 4 pm. Dipke had earlier said Mumbai Police denied permission for CJP's proposed protest. Mumbai Police clarified that it was "not empowered to grant permission" for a gathering at Shivaji Park in view of a 2013 Bombay High Court order, and said the area is a "silence zone."

The police said applicant Ajinkya Shinde had been advised to seek an alternative venue in Mumbai.

Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray has also announced support for protests against Kumar. "If Gyanesh doesn't go, Mumbai will step out against Vote Chori from 2nd October, in huge numbers!!" he said on X.

Congress stepped up its protests on Monday, holding demonstrations in state capitals and districts. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded Kumar's resignation and said the party would "fight seriously" over the SIR issue. The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to discuss the matter on Tuesday.

The political row intensified following an investigative report by The Indian Express, which said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions and procedures linked to the SIR exercise.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections represented institutional dissent, maintaining that decisions related to SIR were taken with the unanimous approval of the Commission. (ANI)