MUMBAI: Amid a protest by activists of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and other civil society organisations against the chief election commissioner and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the “fake narrative” being pushed against the Election Commission had been “busted” following the Election Commissioner’s press statement.Fadnavis said, “The entire matter has been exposed. Following the press conference held by the three Election commissioners, their fake narrative has been busted. Yet, attempts are still being made to push this fake narrative. They will not succeed in this.”Fadnavis was speaking in Mumbai as CJP activists and other civil society organisations held a protest at Shivaji Park against the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the SIR process.Heavy police deployment was seen at Shivaji Park ahead of the protest, news agency ANI reported.CJP spokesperson Saurav Das called chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a “traitor” and claimed people across the country would support calls for his removal.“As you can see, we are starting from Mumbai today. This is going to be a very big protest. Mumbai showed last time what the spirit of Mumbai is. The youth of the whole country, the young generation, everyone came out last time for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. And this time too, it is going to be the same with Gyanesh Kumar, who is a traitor to the country,” Das said.He appealed to residents of Mumbai to join the protest.Meanwhile, some Shivaji Park residents objected to the use of the venue for the demonstration, citing inconvenience to local residents, ANI reported.Local resident Sunil Bhagwat said people regularly visit the park for walks and alleged that frequent protests were causing inconvenience to residents.“We come here for walks in this park, but many protests have been happening here recently. Who is responsible for the troubles being caused to the common people? Did the Constitution not explain your duties towards the rest of the people? Who is responsible for the problems the common man here faces?” he said.Another resident, Ravindra, referred to a previous protest at the venue and alleged that the large gathering had affected traffic movement and caused inconvenience to residents.“The previous time these people protested, they said that it was a spontaneous protest. There was such a huge crowd that it reached Dadar Shivaji Park station itself. Bottles of liquor were thrown at those who came here,” he alleged.He also raised concerns over the proximity of schools and a hospital to the protest site, claiming that traffic movement had been affected during the previous demonstration.(With agency inputs)
