India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has given Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar 48 hours to resign, warning that it will launch a nationwide agitation if he does not step down.
The demand comes a day after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders issued in the name of the Election Commission. The reported objections covered issues including electoral-roll management, changes to Form 6 and the handling of voter data.
The CJP announced its ultimatum on Thursday at a press conference in New Delhi. Founder and national convenor Abhijeet Dipke said the group would begin a nationwide agitation if Kumar did not resign within the deadline. The organisation also announced an “Election Commission Thik Karo” campaign.
What triggered the latest row
The controversy centres on reported internal objections within the three-member Election Commission during the past 10 months.
According to the Indian Express report, Sandhu and Joshi raised objections on at least 14 occasions, including concerns relating to the addition and deletion of voters, changes to the statutory Form 6 used for voter registration and the centralisation of controls over the electoral database.
The report triggered renewed criticism from opposition parties, some of which have separately accused the Election Commission of bias and questioned its handling of electoral-roll revisions.
Those allegations remain disputed.
Election Commission says decisions were unanimous
The Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that the reported objections represented a breakdown in the functioning of the poll panel.
In its response, the ECI said that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberations within an institution. It said the objections and suggestions were part of the decision-making process and maintained that the final decisions taken by the full Commission over the past year were unanimous.
The Commission also said its orders and reforms had full legal sanction and that its digital platforms, including ECINet, operate under security protocols designed to prevent unauthorised manipulation of electoral data.
The two commissioners named in the Indian Express report have not publicly commented on the latest CJP demand, according to Reuters.
Opposition parties step up pressure
The dispute has quickly moved beyond the CJP.
The Congress party has announced protest marches at election offices across the country, demanding action against Kumar and an independent review of decisions and electoral-roll changes made under his leadership. Other opposition parties have also called for Kumar’s removal or further scrutiny of the Election Commission.
The opposition’s criticism follows earlier disputes over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Opposition leaders have alleged that changes to voter lists could affect electoral outcomes and have accused the Election Commission of favouring the BJP. The BJP has rejected those allegations and defended the poll panel, describing opposition criticism as politically motivated.
The Election Commission has maintained that electoral-roll revisions are conducted under the legal framework governing voter registration and deletion.
CJP returns after July protests
The latest campaign is the CJP’s second major confrontation with the government and public institutions this year.
The organisation emerged prominently during youth protests over alleged examination irregularities and paper leaks. The demonstrations continued through July, with protesters demanding accountability from the education authorities.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on July 25, after weeks of nationwide protests over examination-related controversies. The resignation was widely reported as meeting a key demand of the protesting movement, although the broader political circumstances surrounding his departure were more extensive than the CJP campaign alone.
The CJP has now shifted its attention from education to the Election Commission.
A new campaign against the poll panel
The organisation’s latest campaign comes at a sensitive point in India’s electoral calendar, with several state elections and ongoing electoral-roll exercises drawing political attention.
The CJP has demanded Kumar’s resignation and said it will begin nationwide protests if he remains in office after the 48-hour deadline. It has also called for upcoming elections to be frozen and for the SIR process to be rolled back, according to reports on its Thursday announcement.
For the Election Commission, the immediate issue is not simply the protest threat. The controversy has brought renewed attention to how decisions are made within India’s three-member constitutional poll body and how electoral-roll changes are documented and reviewed.
The Commission says its final decisions remain unanimous and lawful.
The CJP and opposition parties are demanding further accountability.
What happens next will depend on whether Kumar responds to the 48-hour ultimatum and whether the promised protests materialise across the country.
Source: Indian Express
The CJP said the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi regarding centralised software and access to electoral-roll data required a public explanation from the Commission. (Express photo)
