# Raj Thackeray announces Oct 4 march with Uddhav Sena against CEC

2026-09-26T15:01:25+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets

MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday announced a joint public march with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) in Mumbai on October 4 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He accused the Election Commission of deceiving voters and functioning like a branch of the ruling party at the Centre, and appealed to all political parties and citizens to join the protest to protect democracy. The announcement follows a separate protest call by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, who has demanded Gyanesh Kumar's resignation by September 28. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray backed Dipke's call, saying Mumbai would turn out against 'Vote Chori' from October 2. The CJP has demanded a halt to the SIR exercise and restoration of the January 2025 electoral rolls. The protests come amid reports that over 13 crore names were excluded from draft electoral rolls during the SIR exercise, and that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised objections on at least 14 occasions. The Election Commission has said internal differences are normal and final decisions were unanimous.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

The three sources report the same developments with near-identical framing, all neutral in tone. None of the outlets downplays the controversy or the scale of the protest calls. The key fact that Election Commissioners recorded formal objections is carried by all sources, though the specific number of 14 occasions appears in the Freepress Journal and Times of India accounts but not in the NDTV Profit brief. The next milestone to watch is Dipke's September 28 resignation deadline, if unmet, the October 2 and 4 protests will test whether the opposition can sustain a unified campaign against the CEC.

## Coverage

- freepressjournal.in (neutral report) <https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-mns-chief-raj-thackeray-announces-jan-morcha-with-uddhav-sena-on-october-4-against-gyanesh-kumar-over-sir-mumbai-news>
  Straight report of Raj Thackeray's announcement with context on SIR controversy and EC's response
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/if-gyanesh-doesnt-go-mumbai-will-step-out-aaditya-thackeray-backs-abhijeet-dipkes-protest-against-cec/articleshow/134503209.cms>
  Focuses on Aaditya Thackeray's backing of Dipke's protest call, includes EC's response
- ndtvprofit.com (neutral report) <https://www.ndtvprofit.com/india/raj-uddhav-thackeray-to-lead-mumbai-march-against-election-commission-sir-on-oct-4-12102354#publisher=newsstand>
  Brief factual report of the October 4 march announcement

Tags: Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar, Mumbai, Raj Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray
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Cite: https://indianopinion.org/raj-thackeray-uddhav-sena-plan-oct-4-march-against-cec-gyanesh-kumar/#story-in-brief