Abhijeet Dipke announces protests in six states, seeks CEC’s resignation

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke sought Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation and warned of protests across several states, followed by a demonstration at Delhi's Jantar Mantar from the end of October if Kumar does not step down

Mumbai: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and warned of protests across the country, followed by a demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar from the end of October if his demand is not met.

Speaking at an interaction at the Mumbai Press Club, Dipke said the CJP would hold a protest at Shivaji Park in the Dadar area on October 2 to press for Kumar’s resignation.

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“CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign and a criminal case should be registered against him,” he said.

Dipke said protests would continue until Kumar stepped down as the head of the poll authority.

“Protests will be held in Goa, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. If he does not resign, then a protest will be held at Jantar Mantar in Delhi from the end of October,” he said.

Dipke also demanded that appointments to the post of CEC be made transparently and that civil society be involved in the process.

He called for freezing the 2025 voter list, saying it should not be “tampered with further”.

Several Opposition parties have criticised CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanded his resignation. This followed reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions and orders, some of which they said were issued without their knowledge.

The Election Commission, however, has clarified in a statement that the three-member commission took decisions, including those relating to the SIR of electoral rolls, unanimously.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena (UBT) will take out a morcha against the Election Commission in Mumbai on October 4.