The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation and criminal proceedings against him over the ongoing controversy surrounding the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das outlined three demands, including an immediate halt to upcoming elections and the SIR exercise, while party founder Abhijeet Dipke launched a sharp attack on Kumar, accusing him of undermining India’s democracy.

CJP's Three Demands

According to Saurav Das, the first demand is that Gyanesh Kumar resign within 48 hours and that criminal proceedings be initiated against him. The party also demanded that Kumar disclose who, it alleged, had instructed him to “steal votes”.

The second demand calls for all upcoming elections to be put on hold and the SIR exercise to be frozen immediately. CJP also sought the restoration of electoral rolls to their January 2025 status and an independent inquiry commission to investigate actions related to SIR.

The party further demanded that the Supreme Court order the seizure of all SIR-related files and records and direct their submission to the court.

Its third demand is the immediate repeal of the 2023 law governing appointments to the Election Commission. CJP called for a new law to be drafted with civil society participation and an independent selection process.

Saurav Das warned that if Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, the party would launch a nationwide agitation and continue it until its demands are fulfilled.

Dipke Attacks Gyanesh Kumar

Speaking about the controversy, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke accused Gyanesh Kumar of posing a threat to India’s democracy and called for his immediate resignation.

Referring to a report on internal disagreements within the Election Commission, Dipke alleged that the government was determining who gets to vote and who does not.

He said, “A report concerning the Election Commission that surfaced yesterday proves that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is the country's biggest traitor. He is the biggest anti-national in this country, and he should resign immediately... He poses the greatest threat to India's democracy.”

Dipke further alleged, “Ever since Gyanesh Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner, the government has been deciding who gets to vote and who doesn't. Is this democracy?”

Election Commission's Position

The remarks came amid scrutiny of the SIR exercise and reported disagreements within the three-member Election Commission.

According to the Indian Express investigation cited in the report, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions they said were taken without their knowledge. The issues reportedly included changes to Form 6, access to electoral-roll databases and the handling of voter deletions and restorations.

The Election Commission has maintained that differences during internal deliberations are normal in a multi-member constitutional body and that all decisions related to the SIR exercise were approved unanimously by the three commissioners.