Mumbai: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and announced plans for protests in several states over issues concerning the Election Commission and electoral-roll revision.
Speaking at an interaction at the Mumbai Press Club on Thursday, Dipke said the CJP would hold a protest at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on October 2 and continue its campaign until Kumar resigns. He also called for a criminal case against the Chief Election Commissioner, according to reports.
Dipke said the proposed protests would be held in Goa, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. He added that if Kumar did not resign, the party planned to hold a demonstration at Delhi's Jantar Mantar from the end of October.
The CJP founder also called for a more transparent process for appointing the Chief Election Commissioner, with civil society participation. He further demanded that the 2025 voter list be frozen and not altered further.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing debate over the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. An Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period concerning various decisions and orders.
The Election Commission, however, has said that decisions taken by the three-member panel, including those relating to SIR, were unanimous. The Commission said concerns raised by the two Election Commissioners did not amount to disagreement with the final decisions.
The CJP's planned protests are part of a broader political and civil-society debate over electoral-roll revision and the functioning of the Election Commission. The proposed Mumbai protest has also faced questions over police permission, according to recent reports.
