Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena boss Raj Thackeray on Sunday, October 4, 2026, led a massive joint protest march through south Mumbai demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Virat Garjana Morcha (Grand Roar March) — backed by Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) — turned the Thackeray cousins' reunion into the opposition's biggest show of force yet against the poll body.
Cousins march together — again
The march began at Metro Cinema and wound its way to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters near CSMT, with thousands of supporters in tow. This is the third time the Thackeray cousins — bitter rivals until recently — have joined forces after burying the hatchet: first to celebrate the withdrawal of the order making Hindi compulsory in Maharashtra schools, then over the NEET paper leak, and now against the Election Commission.
In a deliberate move to frame it as a citizens' movement rather than a party rally, organisers banned party flags — participants carried only the national Tricolour. State Congress and NCP (SP) leaders marched alongside the cousins.
"Scrap SIR, scrap EVMs"
Raj Thackeray gave the march its sharpest edge, taking direct aim at the CEC with the jibe "Gyanesh kaka, dale vote pa daka" — accusing the poll body of enabling vote theft. Addressing thousands of supporters, he demanded the SIR process in Maharashtra be "completely scrapped" and called for an end to electronic voting machines altogether:
"The SIR process in Maharashtra must be completely scrapped. Voting through EVMs in the country should be stopped, and we should go back to voting through ballot papers. I have been saying since 2017-18 that there is something wrong here. The number of votes cannot suddenly decrease."
Uddhav Thackeray alleged that Kumar had "snatched away" people's voting rights, while Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut called the march a collective revolt against attempts to "undermine democratic institutions, electoral processes and the constitutional rights of citizens."
A movement gathering steam
The Mumbai march came just two days after the Cockroach Janta Party's 'Jail Bharo Andolan' at Shivaji Park, and amid parallel protests in Delhi — where police detained around 150 protesters for a second straight day — and Rahul Gandhi's launch of the 'Satyagraha' digital platform to map resistance movements. The Election Commission has not responded to the resignation demand.
The takeaway: with the Thackeray cousins now a joint political force and the SIR fight spreading from Mumbai to Delhi, the battle over India's electoral rolls has become the opposition's unifying cause — and Gyanesh Kumar its central target.
Watch: Raj-Uddhav Thackeray Rally in Mumbai Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar — Mirror Now report