CJP's Ashutosh Ranka, Abhijit Dipke and Saurav Das, along with singer Vishal Dadlani (in black T-shirt), during a protest seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation in Mumbai. (Photo: ANI)The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has called for a protest march to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10 demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, said it would proceed with the demonstration even if authorities denied permission for the gathering.Speaking to The Indian Express’ Srirupa Goswami, CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said, “We’ll do a march. Wherever they stop us, we’ll sit… that place becomes Jantar Mantar.”“And until and unless they allow us to go in, we’ll not get up. They can, of course, arrest us, beat us up. That they can keep doing, but we are very clear – the protest will be done at Jantar Mantar”The October 10 protest will be the CJP’s second major demonstration at Jantar Mantar after July when its members staged a sit-in for over a month to demand the resignation of then-Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak issue.Pradhan subsequently stepped down.Also Read | Why Mumbai police held back on ECI protests while Delhi cracked downRanka also claimed that he and other CJP leaders, including founder Abhijeet Dipke and Saurav Das, could be arrested before the protest. “That’s what sources from IB, Delhi Police, senior journalists… have told us. They [the government] want to stop us. But they are forgetting… three of us happen to be the faces of CJP, but CJP is way more than what we are,” he added.Warning to Amit ShahAsked how the CJP planned to prepare for a possible crackdown on its October 10 demonstration, especially after mass detentions following the All India Students’ Association protest in Delhi, Ranka said, “Is baar lathi charge hua…toh is baar seedha Amit Shah pe baat jayegi. Is baar seedha Amit Shah ka resignation maanga jayega. (This time, if there is a lathi charge, then the matter will go straight to Amit Shah. This time, we will directly demand Amit Shah’s resignation).”Pointing out that the Union Home Minister “is directly the person controlling Delhi Police, and orders like these can’t come without his consent”, Ranka added, “So, he better make sure that if he’s asking Delhi Police to do lathi charge, he should be ready for us going after him.”Story continues below this ad‘EC not independent anymore’Hitting out at the Centre and the Election Commission, Ranka said, “They are openly manipulating elections… [an election is] the fundamental root of a strong democracy. Elections have been compromised in this country, EC is not independent anymore, so civil disobedience is what we are going ahead with and what we will keep doing till our demands are met.”Protests against Kumar have intensified across the country, including in Delhi, over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. An Indian Express investigation published on September 23 found that two election commissioners in the three-member ECI had recorded objections – 14 times in 10 months – to steps taken by Kumar. Rahul Gandhi says Gyanesh Kumar abused powers, BJP calls remarks ‘full of lies’Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said it “is now established beyond doubt that Gyanesh Kumar changed Form 6 illegally and unilaterally”.Read the full story →Rahul Gandhi stands with ‘Gyanesh, it’s done bro’ placardCongress MP borrows scathing putdown first tweeted by Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke and his calls for Gyanesh Kumar to resign.Read the full story →Naveen Patnaik’s BJD joins Opposition’s Election Commission protestPatnaik has sent Manas Mangraj and Sulata Deo to join protests that have erupted in central Delhi Tuesday.Read the full story →INDIA bloc's EC march was over. Then, Gandhis did this Congress leaders have credited Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra with derailing the police plan to end the protest.Read the full story →Multiple groups, moving crowds: Why cops faced big challengeThe agitation has seen student activists, politicians and civil society members making repeated attempts to march towards ‘restricted areas’ in central Delhi.Read the full story → Ranka reiterated the CJP’s demand for Kumar’s resignation, saying: “Gyanesh, beta tumse na ho payega”, loosely translated as “Gyanesh, you won’t be able to pull this off.”