00:00All right viewers, it's protest season once again.
00:03The last time it would have been summers, now it is fall.
00:06But the big question is, will the Kokoro Janata Party and Shivaji Park
00:11attract the same kind of crowds that the Kokoro Janata Party attracted in Janatar Mantar?
00:17This time, the battle is over, the demand of resignation for the Chief Election Commissioner.
00:23And the battle lines are clearly drawn.
00:26From Delhi to Mumbai, what will go down in terms of the support,
00:32we'll only know in time to come, but this is how the day panned out.
01:20All right viewers, those were the two splitting images.
01:22One protest in Delhi, one which has started at about 4 p.m. in Mumbai, Shivaji Park.
01:28Delhi protest after the detention of 1,100 protesters that came in from the left.
01:34Parties as well as the Amadmi Party has ended this afternoon.
01:39But the focus now on Shivaji Park.
01:42And joining me from there is our Maharashtra and Goa Bureau Chief,
01:46who's on ground getting us the very latest.
01:48My colleague Sahil Joshi joins us live.
01:51Sahil, over to you.
01:52What kind of crowds have come out?
01:54Has the CJP been able to instigate the same kind of protest mode in the people of Mumbai?
02:04Well, Priti, there was a fundamental difference between the earlier protests,
02:08that is, the protests against the, you know, the paper leak
02:12and specific demand with respect to Dharmendra Pradhan and the protests now.
02:16Because, you know, this has sort of become like a political issue,
02:20whereas the need protests had reached out to the parents.
02:22But despite that, it's very interesting that, you know,
02:26you can see here just behind me at Shivaji Park,
02:31there is still crowd here.
02:33And I can say for a fact that it may not be as big as the protests during the need
02:40time.
02:40But despite that, there is a sound against the election commission.
02:44And the CJP has managed to bring in the younger crowd on the ground,
02:50which is not linked to the political parties.
02:54But I would also like to add to this,
02:55because when Abhijit Dipke announced that there will be a protest on 2nd of October,
03:02the first party to support that protest was Shiv Sena UBT.
03:06Aritya Thakri had tweeted about it.
03:07So I'd seen many supporters from Shiv Sena UBT as well.
03:11But there is now a separate march which is going to happen.
03:14Shiv Sena UBT and MNS Raj Thakri and Uddev Thakri are going to have a separate march on 4th of
03:19October,
03:19where the other political parties like NCP, SP and the Congress Party
03:24are also going to be part of that particular protest.
03:27But it is interesting that despite police not giving permission
03:33to hold such kind of protest at the Shivaji Park,
03:35because Shivaji Park is a declared silent zone
03:39and only particular days are allowed to hold any kind of a public gathering at the Shivaji Park.
03:45And that is also depending on whether the government or the authorities allow it to happen.
03:50But despite that, the CJP anyhow went ahead with the protest
03:53and the police kept the security around.
03:56As you can see, there are police personals,
03:58but there is no punitive action against the protesters
04:01and they are allowing this protest to happen.
04:04And a lot of people I have seen carrying the tirangas in their hand,
04:09the tri-colour flags in their hand, the national flag in their hand,
04:12various posters with specific demand for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner,
04:18Nyanesh Kumar.
04:19So this is unusual a little bit that at the Shivaji Park,
04:23on the holiday, Mumbaikers have managed to come down,
04:26not in the as big numbers as that of NEET,
04:29but yes, on the ground at this point of time.
04:32And since 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the protests are still on.
04:36Abhijit Dipke is right now speaking from the stage.
04:39I saw a couple of Shabana Azmi had joined the protest.
04:43Vishal Bharatwaj was also part of the protest.
04:46Earlier in the day,
04:47Nasiruddin Shah met Abhijit Dipke.
04:51But the political leaders have not come here for the protest
04:54the way we have seen during the Chantar Bantar protest
04:57or the protests happened in Mumbai where Uddav Thakri, Raj Thakri
05:01had openly come out in support of the CJP protest.
05:04This time, they are having their own protest
05:06because it is more of a political issue
05:07and the political parties which are picking up this issue
05:11and the CJP has been allowed to have their own protest
05:13with the youngsters on the ground actually.
05:17You know, Sahil, the political leaders had only joined
05:20the CJP protest after day 22.
05:23This is day one.
05:24Now, the CJP leaders like Abhijit Dipke
05:27were expecting that they would be detained
05:29or, you know, the protest would not happen.
05:33Do they have a game plan from here on?
05:35Because in Jantar Mantar, Sahil,
05:37the protest hinged on the fast by Sonam Wangchuk.
05:42What's the plan of the CJP?
05:50Well, the difference between the protests at Jantar Mantar
05:52was it was a prolonged protest
05:54and they had already planned it for a longer time
05:57and till the time the resignation doesn't happen.
06:00Now, this time, they have planned to have these protests
06:03in different cities across India
06:05and they will be starting from Mumbai is what they have announced.
06:08So, there is a particular time limit for this particular protest
06:11and they have kept two hours for this particular protest.
06:14I think it will go on till one and a half hour more.
06:19The police, what they have told us is that
06:22they will not be taking any punitive action against it
06:24the way they tried to detain last time
06:27and they have allowed the protest to happen.
06:29There is a makeshift stage made here
06:32at the entrance of the Shivari Park
06:33and from there, the protesters and the CJP leaders
06:36are making their speeches.
06:38So, the strategy right now of the CJP
06:40is to have such kind of protest,
06:42to conduct such protest in different parts of the country.
06:46The same team will travel along with the protest.
06:49At every city, they are planning to have this protest.
06:51Similarly, the opposition parties have decided
06:53that from 2nd to 6th of October,
06:56there will be protests at the district levels
06:58and then a large protest in Delhi on 6th of October
07:01and finally, there will be a bigger rally in Delhi.
07:04Similarly, CJP has also planned different protests
07:07at different cities at this point of time.
07:09This is what is the plan looking at it.
07:11They are not planning to station here
07:13till the time their demand is not met.
07:15But Sahil, there was a pressure on the government,
07:19especially the last time around
07:20because there was Sonam Wangchuk
07:22who became the poster child of the entire protest
07:24on a fast unto death
07:26and picking him up, you know,
07:28was that trigger which led to the kind of support,
07:32an outpouring of support that the protests saw.
07:35How does the CJP hope to build on the pressure
07:38for the resignation of the CEC
07:41if it's only going to conduct
07:43these flash protests in each city?
07:45Where are they going to gather the momentum
07:47to put pressure on the CEC to step down?
07:54Well, you know, the basic difference
07:57between the protests that happened
07:59during the need paper leak
08:00and the protests happening against the CEC
08:03or the conduct of the election commission
08:05during SIR
08:06is that there was a specific demand
08:08with respect to the paper leak protests,
08:10the need paper leak protests.
08:12Also, the issue itself had a wider reach
08:16across the political spectrum,
08:18across the ideologies
08:19because it was a very basic issue
08:21with respect to the parents,
08:24the students,
08:25and the way things are happening around
08:28during different exams
08:31and the continuous paper leaks
08:34have created a lot of anger
08:36against the whole system itself.
08:39And Darbhin Rapadan sort of,
08:41of that protest,
08:42have become kind of a symbol
08:43of the whole thing.
08:44Right now, the SIR process
08:47was already challenged
08:48by the opposition party.
08:49So, it had already taken
08:50a kind of a political turn
08:53even before the CJP got into this protest.
08:56CJP is planning to be
08:57a kind of a political pressure group
09:00and that is what they are trying
09:01to achieve through this.
09:02Now, very interestingly,
09:04today the protests were about to start
09:07and yesterday, on 1st of October,
09:09election commissioners suddenly declared
09:11that there will be a special drive
09:13across India
09:14in the 20 states
09:15where the SIR process is over.
09:18Now, this is for the first time
09:19in India this is happening
09:20that after the special intensive revision
09:22is over,
09:22the election commissioners
09:24announced a separate drive,
09:25a special drive,
09:26to re-register the voters
09:30who have been left out
09:31during the SIR process.
09:33Maybe they have shifted their address,
09:35maybe they have been kept out
09:37of the final list
09:39because of not being found
09:41at a particular address.
09:43So, they will be having
09:44this special drive
09:47for form number 6,
09:48that is for newly registering voters
09:51and also form number 8,
09:53they will be filling up
09:54the form number 8
09:54for the shifting of the address.
09:57So, there is a pressure building up
09:58on the election commission.
10:00The way they are taking reactions,
10:02the way they are addressing
10:04this particular issue,
10:05there is a pressure building up.
10:07Sahil, I'm going to ask you
10:08one very quick question.
10:10to see whether it will actually
10:10cultivate into resignation
10:12of Ganesh Kumar.
10:13Sahil, one final question
10:14before we let you go.
10:15I know you need to now go back
10:16to our sister concern, Ajitak.
10:17But the question I want to ask you
10:19is if you look around yourself,
10:21you know, at Shivaji Park
10:23and you estimate
10:25how much of this crowd
10:26is actually organic
10:27because there was a sense by many
10:29that possibly Gen Z of the country
10:33might not react
10:34or people in the country
10:35might not react
10:36in the same emotive issue
10:38that they did during NEET.
10:39Have people come out organically
10:41of their own volition
10:42or are these engineered crowds
10:44that you see around you?
10:48Yeah.
10:49Well, this is definitely
10:51not an engineered crowd.
10:52That I can definitely see
10:53because I don't see,
10:55you know, usually
10:55at the political protest
10:57we see larger trucks,
10:58the buses
10:59through which the people
11:00have been brought
11:01at a particular protest site.
11:03Most of the people
11:04around here
11:05have come on their own.
11:07They might be having
11:09some kind of a political linkage
11:10or political lineage
11:11or political linking
11:13towards a particular ideology
11:15but they have come on their own.
11:16That's for sure.
11:17I will not put
11:18any particular number
11:19to the number of protesters
11:21at this point of time
11:22but I can definitely say
11:23that whoever have come here
11:24have come on their own.
11:26Somewhere they have started realizing,
11:28especially after the Indian Express report
11:30and the way
11:30that the media
11:31have picked up
11:32this particular
11:32election commission story
11:34that somewhere
11:35the election commission
11:36will have to
11:37mold their ways
11:38the way they are
11:39going ahead
11:40with the whole SIR process
11:41and that's what
11:43they have come on the ground
11:44to register
11:45their protest with,
11:46about.
11:47So,
11:48the larger issue
11:50has been understood,
11:51has reached
11:52to a particular generation.
11:53They have understood
11:54that there is something
11:55which needs to be,
11:56because this new registration
11:58of the voters,
11:59the young voters
12:00want to register themselves.
12:01That is also one of the big issues
12:03which was picked up
12:04during this whole story
12:07and the speeches
12:07which has been made there.
12:09Interestingly,
12:10this is the first political line
12:12which has been taken
12:13by the CJP
12:14as they have already said
12:15that unlike
12:17Anna Hazare's agitation
12:19where the India against corruption
12:21kept saying that
12:22they are non-political organization
12:24and they don't want to be
12:25in any kind of politics
12:26earlier
12:27before forming
12:28the Aam Admi Party.
12:29Here,
12:30the CJP is very clear
12:31that they will take
12:31the political stand,
12:32they will take
12:35political stands
12:36at various levels,
12:37they will have their own
12:39statements
12:39on the political issues
12:41and they will work
12:41as a political pressure group
12:43as well
12:44despite not being
12:45a registered political party
12:47and that is the message
12:48which it looks like
12:49that they have
12:51being able to transform
12:52to the people
12:54who have gathered here
12:54at this point of time.
12:55Right.
12:57Alright, Sahil Joshi,
12:58thank you there
12:59for joining us
12:59and getting us
13:00the very latest
13:01bird's eye view
13:02of what Shivaji Park
13:03looks like this evening.
13:04Once again,
13:05we are to establish
13:06very clearly
13:07this is not an
13:07indefinite protest.
13:08It will last
13:09for another one hour
13:10and then the CJP
13:11will draw its roadmap
13:12to the next city
13:13it wants to take
13:14its protest with
13:15with one singular demand
13:16which is the resignation
13:17of the Chief Election Commissioner.
