Resign In 48 Hours Or We'll Begin Protests: CJP's Ultimatum To Poll Body Chief

Opening a new front as part of its pressure campaign on Thursday, the Cockroach Janata Party demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and warned of starting a nationwide agitation if this did not happen within 48 hours. 

Holding a press conference a day after an Indian Express report stated that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised questions about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls but their concerns were not heard, CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke said in Hindi, "The report that came out yesterday regarding the Election Commission proves that Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, is the biggest traitor to this nation. He is the biggest anti-national in this country, and he should resign immediately. Why is he an anti-national? Because he is the biggest threat to India's democracy." 

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"What did democracy mean in our country? It meant the public gets to choose the government and the people decide who they vote for. But ever since Gyanesh Kumar took over as Chief Election Commissioner, the government decides who votes and who does not. What kind of definition of democracy is this? You have turned democracy upside down. This is not democracy, this is autocracy. And its biggest criminal, the biggest anti-national behind this right now, is Gyanesh Kumar," he alleged. 

Giving out figures of deletions in various states as part of the SIR, Dipke said 13 crore votes have been cancelled and accused Kumar of doing everything to ensure that the BJP remains in power. 

"We have no special attachment to the opposition or any political party. But in a democracy, if you eliminate the opposition entirely and wipe out all alternative faces, does it remain a democracy? Is this a free and fair election? This has been a sustained effort: toppling governments in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, engineering overnight floor-crossings in Goa, buying MLAs and MPs, and splitting parties," Dipke claimed. 

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"In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena and NCP were split, and their official party symbols were stripped by the Election Commission and handed over to proxy groups, which are essentially BJP shell operations. The same thing is happening in Bengal now as well. The real culprit and criminal behind this is Gyanesh Kumar, who has not only rigged elections nationwide but proactively ensured the ruling party remains in power," he added.

Three-Pronged Demand

Dipke and CJP Spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka then went on to list three core demands:

• Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately, criminal proceedings must be initiated against him, and an investigation must be launched into whose orders he acted on. 
• All upcoming elections must be put on hold, the SIR exercise must be frozen, the electoral roll must be rolled back to the January 2025 voters' list, and an independent inquiry commission must be constituted, which will inspire public confidence and look into all the decision-making processes related to the SIR. All files linked to this must be placed in the custody of the Supreme Court to prevent records from disappearing. 
• The 2023 law regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners must be repealed and replaced with a new legislation that inspires confidence with the active participation of civil society members. 

"We urge all political parties: you cannot participate in a contest you know is rigged while complaining about it on the sidelines. Taking part legitimises the outcome, so take a definitive stand. To the public: this concerns your right to vote. If Gyanesh Kumar wants to serve political masters, he should resign and officially take up an aide's job rather than occupying a constitutional chair. We issue a 48-hour ultimatum: if Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, the Cockroach Janata Party will launch a nationwide agitation before heading to Delhi," he warned.