Cockroach Janta Party demands CEC's resignation, threatens nationwide protest

New Delhi: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Election Commission’s functioning had undermined voters’ rights and the democratic process.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke along with spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka addressed a press conference in Delhi on Thursday, days after a report in The Indian Express alleged repeated objections by two of the three Election Commissioners over decisions concerning electoral rolls and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Dipke alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was functioning as though he could take decisions at his discretion. He said the CJP would launch a nationwide protest if the CEC did not resign within 48 hours.

According to the report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders which they said were taken without their knowledge. The objections related to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes to Form 6 and access to the electoral-roll database.

CJP raises concerns over new voters
Saurav Das alleged that the SIR process had resulted in the exclusion of lakhs of voters and said the reported changes could particularly affect young people entering the electoral rolls for the first time.

Questions over CEC's powers
The CJP also cited the Indian Express report while questioning whether the CEC could take decisions without the concurrence of the other Election Commissioners.

The Indian Express reported that Sandhu and Joshi had repeatedly objected to decisions that they said had been taken without their knowledge. In one note, Sandhu had alleged that the Commission had acted against the written advice of two Commissioners and described the action as “unauthorised and illegal”.

Concern over centralisation of voter database
Another issue highlighted by Das was the alleged centralisation of the electoral roll database, pointing out that as the newspaper's investigation, Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi had raised concerns in May over this. He had proposed an audit to ensure that only the statutory authorities concerned had credentials to make changes to the voter database.

Sandhu later raised similar concerns, saying state-level officials had reported inadequate access to the ERONet portal.

The CJP alleged that such changes could undermine the existing system of checks and balances in electoral-roll management.

CJP alleges impact beyond voting rights
Ashutosh Ranka said the implications of changes to voter registration could extend beyond elections.

He argued that if a person's name is absent from the electoral roll, the consequences could potentially affect access to government welfare measures that use voter registration or electoral-roll status as an eligibility condition.

The CJP also alleged that the issue was not limited to the deletion of existing voters but could affect the entry of new voters, particularly members of the younger generation.

The party described the issue as a broader challenge to the functioning of the country's electoral system and called for changes to what it termed a “broken” system.

CJP's 48-hour ultimatum
Dipke said the CJP would give Gyanesh Kumar 48 hours to resign. If he did not, the organisation would begin a nationwide protest against the CEC.

Das alleged that the Election Commission had become a “joke” because of the way the system was functioning and called for institutional changes.