With 24 hours left on its 48-hour ultimatum, CJP has threatened nationwide protests and “Jantar Mantar 2.0” if CEC Gyanesh Kumar refuses to resign over SIR.
The controversy over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has intensified, with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) giving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar 48 hours to resign on Thursday. The CJP had issued the ultimatum to Kumar, warning that it would launch a nationwide agitation, including “Jantar Mantar 2.0”, if he did not step down. With half the deadline now over, all eyes are on the CJP and its next move if their demand is not met.
The demands come amid a row over reported differences within the three-member Election Commission. A report by The Indian Express said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge. The objections reportedly covered voter additions and deletions, changes to Form 6 and the centralisation of electoral-roll data.
The Election Commission, however, has said that written notes, observations and differing views are part of the normal deliberative process. It has maintained that all final decisions taken by the poll panel, including those related to SIR, were unanimous.
CJP’s 3 Demands
The CJP has put forward three key demands amid the SIR controversy.
1. Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and criminal proceedings
The CJP has demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for criminal proceedings against him.
“We are giving Gyanesh Kumar a 48-hour ultimatum to resign. If he does not resign, we will launch a nationwide agitation. We will go to every state, and there will be nationwide protests against Gyanesh Kumar,” Abhijeet Dipke said at a press conference.
Dipke also accused the Election Commission of undermining the democratic process.
“Chief Election Commissioner is the biggest anti-national. Gyanesh Kumar is the biggest anti-national of this country. He should resign immediately because he is the biggest threat to India’s democracy. What did democracy mean in our country? Democracy meant that the people would elect the government,” the CJP founder said.
2. Freeze SIR and put upcoming elections on hold
The CJP has also demanded an immediate freeze on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
It has called for upcoming elections to be put on hold until concerns over the electoral-roll revision process are addressed.
The demand comes amid the wider controversy over voter additions and deletions under SIR. The Indian Express report said Sandhu and Joshi had raised concerns over several aspects of electoral-roll management, including changes to Form 6 and the handling of voter data.
3. Repeal the 2023 law on appointment of Election Commissioners
The CJP has also demanded the repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
Under the current law, the selection committee comprises the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
The CJP’s demand comes amid the wider debate over the functioning and independence of the Election Commission following reports of internal objections.
