Are preparations underway for another major political battle in Delhi? The developments appear to be moving in that direction. With reports now emerging of large-scale irregularities in the exercise being carried out in the name of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an unprecedented exercise in the country’s history, all major political parties in the country are demanding that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar immediately resign and that he be arrested. The Indian Express, a leading English daily, has published a report with evidence stating that the two Election Commissioners in the Central Election Commission have also expressed dissatisfaction with the way the SIR is being conducted and have raised objections regarding the Election Commission’s software. Amid these latest developments, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has once again entered the fray. CJP founder Abhijeet Deepke held a press conference in Delhi on Thursday. Reacting strongly to the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise, he expressed severe anger against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He said that the CEC had become the biggest threat to Indian democracy.
He issued an ultimatum that if Gyanesh Kumar did not resign within the next 48 hours, they would launch nationwide protests. Otherwise, he warned, they would launch “Jantar Mantar 2.” There have been allegations that the objections raised by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi regarding the procedure for deleting and re-adding voters were ignored. Against this backdrop, Abhijeet Deepke lashed out at CEC Gyanesh Kumar at the latest press conference. He commented that these incidents prove that the Chief Election Commissioner is the biggest traitor in the country. He accused the Chief Election Commissioner of acting against democratic principles. Abhijeet Deepke said that since Gyanesh Kumar took charge as CEC, more than 13 crore votes have reportedly been cancelled across the country and that this is unconstitutional. He recalled that the difference between the ruling NDA and the opposition alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was only two per cent. He questioned the Election Commission whether votes were deleted on such a large scale specifically to influence that difference.
He alleged that this strategy was devised to weaken regional forces out of fear that the BJP might not secure a clear majority. He said that the deletion of votes from constituencies represented by Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal had led to her defeat. He said that the deletion of around one lakh votes led to the defeat of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. He said the same thing happened in Delhi as well. Abhijeet Deepke questioned how elections could be called free and fair when votes were being deleted in a manner that harmed opposition leaders. He made it clear that they would not back down on their demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. CJP co-convener Saurav Das said that they would place three demands before the Election Commission. They demanded that, along with the resignation of the CEC, criminal action should also be initiated against him; that the SIR exercise should be stopped and the 2025 electoral roll should be considered; and that all files related to the SIR should be placed under the custody of a committee appointed by the Supreme Court.