'Istifa Janata Party': Union minister Athawale targets CJP over demands for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation

Union minister Ramdas Athawale took a dig at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Tuesday as he suggested a name change for the youth-led group. Athawale said CJP should change its name to 'Istifa Janata Party'. The jibe came amid calls for chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation as he remains embroiled in a major controversy over alleged dissent within the Election Commission of India (ECI).

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has given a call for a nationwide protest, seeking the resignation of the CEC. Earlier in July, a CJP-led protest over the alleged NEET UG paper leak had resulted in the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

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Training his guns on CJP, on Tuesday, Athawale said, "The CJP keeps asking only for resignations. They should change its name to Istifa Janata Party."

The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment said Dipke had entered the political scene very recently, while he has been active for a long time on issues concerning Dalits and other backward classes. "Dipke is from Maharashtra, is a Buddhist and a Dalit. He studied in the US and is new to the field," he said.

Defending the government at Centre, Athawale said, "We are aware of the various issues facing the nation, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sincerely working hard to resolve them." The Republican Party of India leader also asserted that PM Modi would become the prime minister for a fourth consecutive term in 2029.

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Why is CJP demanding CEC resignation

CJP's call for CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation comes amid questions over the SIR exercise and reported disagreements within the Election Commission over electoral-roll decisions.

The Supreme Court has also agreed to hear next week a plea challenging the functioning of the Election Commission under Gyanesh Kumar and the nationwide SIR.

The SIR is a door-to-door exercise in which the Election Commission of India (ECI) rechecks the eligibility of every voter on the rolls. The poll body began the SIR process in Bihar in 2025 and has since extended it to other states.

The Opposition has alleged that it targets the poor, migrants and minorities, while the ECI has maintained that it is meant to clean the rolls of dead, duplicate and ineligible entries.

The uproar over SIR escalated after a report in The Indian Express claimed that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the ECI, including on additions, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process.