Cockroach Janata Party threatens nationwide stir, demands CEC's resignation

Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) president Abhijit Dipke has demanded that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar resign. Dipke warned that if Gyanesh Kumar does not step down within 48 hours, the Cockroach Janata Party will launch a nationwide agitation.

Dipke made the demand in a post on the social media platform X on Friday. He said that if Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) will start a large and intense agitation from October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.

According to Dipke, the agitation will begin from Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. After a large protest in Mumbai, the agitation will be spread to other major states and cities across the country. In his post, Dipke also appealed to citizens to take a "pledge to save democracy" on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

Dipke put forward three demands in his post. The first is that Gyanesh Kumar resign immediately and face criminal action.

The second demand is that all upcoming elections across states be immediately postponed, that the January 2024 voter list be reinstated with immediate effect, and that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process be stopped at once.

The third demand, according to the CJP, is that the 2023 law giving Election Commissioners protection from legal action be repealed immediately and replaced with a new law that includes civil society.

Differences have reportedly emerged within the Election Commission over certain decisions related to the voter list. Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi are said to have recorded at least 14 written objections to the Commission's decisions and orders over the last 10 months. CEC Gyanesh Kumar is said to have issued some decisions or orders overruling Sandhu and Joshi's objections, without their knowledge or approval. On one day alone, four objections were reportedly recorded.

Under the law, the Election Commission is required to seek consensus as far as possible in its functioning, and where there is disagreement, the majority decision is to be accepted. Despite this rule, the two Election Commissioners have alleged that CEC Gyanesh Kumar has taken decisions arbitrarily. This issue is said to have triggered discontent against Gyanesh Kumar across the country.