Published: 10:48 AM, 04 October 2026
Shabana Azmi joins Cockroach Janta Party's Mumbai protest
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi joined the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) Jail Bharo protest at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on Friday. Addressing the gathering, she spoke about the right to vote and backed the organisation's demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The actor, who had earlier taken part in a students' protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, told the crowd that people should protest through democratic means if their names are removed from electoral rolls. The Mumbai gathering also saw several familiar names from the film and music industry, including Naseeruddin Shah, Vishal Dadlani, Vishal Bhardwaj and Rekha Bhardwaj.
Speaking to the reporters before reaching the stage on Friday evening, Shabana said, “Voting is our right. If anyone tries to take away our right to vote, we will do what is necessary through democratic means.”
She later addressed those gathered at Shivaji Park in Mumbai and said, “A very, very warm greeting to all of you. Since I am from Mumbai, seeing all of you present here in such large numbers brings me immense happiness.”
Our vote is our right, it is our voice, we have been hearing this since childhood. But when our right is snatched away from us, when our names are removed from the electoral rolls, what will we do? We will protest. This is our right. Today, look around and see how far your eyes can reach, this is the victory of democracy. Because we have recognised our own strength, and we have realised that we do not have to tolerate anything wrong, because this is our country, our Constitution has given us this right. So, many congratulations to all of you,” she added.
