India’s ‘Cockroach’ party threatens fresh protests unless election chief resigns

NEW DELHI – The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the youth-led movement that spearheaded one of India’s biggest student protests in years, has demanded the resignation of the country’s chief election commissioner within 48 hours, threatening fresh protests if he does not step down.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke issued the ultimatum to Gyanesh Kumar at a press conference in New Delhi on Sept 24, as the Election Commission faces mounting scrutiny following a media report alleging internal divisions over controversial changes to voter rolls.The poll body has rejected suggestions of a rift.Opposition parties are demanding Kumar’s removal, accusing him of sidelining the poll body’s two other members.CJP echoed that demand on Sept 24 and called for all upcoming elections to be put on hold. “We will do a nationwide agitation and we will do a sit-in protest in Delhi,” Dipke told reporters, adding that details would be announced soon.An investigation by the Indian Express on Sept 23 found that two of the commission’s three members repeatedly objected to decisions linked to the overhaul of voter rolls, which has led to millions of people losing their right to cast their ballots.The commissioners’ concerns were overlooked and decisions were taken without their knowledge in some cases, the newspaper said.The CJP began as a satirical online movement in May before leading one of India’s largest youth-led protests in years.The weeks-long agitation over exam irregularities called for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who stepped down in July.Since then, CJP members have taken their activism across India, inspecting government schools and pressing state authorities to address shortcomings in infrastructure, staffing and basic facilities.Following the Indian Express report, CJP co-convener Saurav Das said on Sept 24 that the group’s efforts to audit school infrastructure and tackle corruption would mean little if people were deprived of their right to vote.“Nothing is going to work because Election Commission is compromised,” Das said in a video posted on X.On Sept 24, CJP also called for a halt to the ongoing revision of voter rolls and the creation of an independent commission to investigate decisions made during the exercise.Das also demanded criminal proceedings against Kumar. BLOOMBERG