Resign in 24 hours or face protest from Oct 2: CJP's ultimatum to Gyanesh Kumar

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has set October 2 as the date for the launch of its nationwide protest if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 24 hours, founder Abhijeet Dipke said on Friday.

“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India,” Dipke said in a post on X. He added, “This Gandhi Jayanti let’s pledge to save democracy.”

The announcement came a day after the youth-led outfit demanded Kumar’s resignation for allegedly “undermining” voter rights and warned of a nationwide agitation, including a proposed “Jantar Mantar 2.0”, if he did not step down within 48 hours.

The CJP has launched what it calls the “Election Commission Thik Karo” campaign, focusing on the exclusion of more than 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union territories during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

EC COMMISSIONERS HAD RAISED QUESTIONS OVER SIR: REPORT

The remarks came a day after The Indian Express reported that questions had repeatedly been raised within the three-member Election Commission by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi over issues related to the SIR of electoral rolls.

The party cited voter exclusions reported across several states during the SIR. These included more than 2 crore names in Maharashtra, more than 2 crore in Uttar Pradesh, around 1 crore in Karnataka, 97 lakh in Tamil Nadu, 90 lakh in West Bengal, 73 lakh in Telangana, 47 lakh in Delhi and 24 lakh in Kerala.

“Democracy means that people choose their government. This is not democracy, this is autocracy. Under Gyanesh Kumar, we are seeing an electoral system in which the Election Commission is deciding who remains on the voter rolls and who does not. When millions of names can disappear from draft rolls, the burden is on the Commission to establish that every exclusion is lawful, transparent and subject to meaningful review,” Dipke said.

DIPKE ASKS OPPOSITION TO STOP CONTESTING 'RIGGED' POLLS

On Friday, Dipke also urged opposition parties to stop participating in elections if they believe the electoral process is being rigged, arguing that continued participation legitimises such polls and creates an “illusion” that they are free and fair.

In a post on X, he said opposition parties could not simultaneously claim that elections were being rigged and continue to contest them.

“Yes, elections are being rigged. But when you continue to participate in rigged elections, you legitimise these elections and help maintain the illusion that they are free and fair,” he said.

Dipke questioned whether opposition parties continued to participate because they feared that staying away from elections would lead to their political extinction.

“Maybe you keep contesting because you fear that if you don't, you will stop existing. But what kind of existence are you trying to protect when votes are being stolen, your MLAs and MPs are being poached, and your parties are being split?” he said.