The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign, warning that failure to do so would trigger a nationwide agitation followed by a protest in Delhi.

At a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday (September 24), CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke accused the Election Commission of undermining citizens’ voting rights and said the organisation would intensify its campaign if Kumar remained in office.

“CEC is the biggest anti-national. Gyanesh Kumar is the biggest anti-national of this country. He should resign immediately because he is the biggest threat to India’s democracy. What did democracy mean in our country? Democracy meant that the people would elect the government. Since Gyanesh Kumar became the CEC, the government has been deciding who will be allowed to vote and who will not. Is this democracy? What kind of definition of democracy is this? You have turned the entire concept of democracy upside down,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said in a press conference in New Delhi. He was accompanied by the outfit’s co-conveners Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka.

“To ensure free and fair elections, CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign,” Dipke said.

Dipke alleged that the electoral process had been ‘rigged’ and that the right to vote was being taken away from citizens.

“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, we will start a nationwide protest, before coming for a protest in Delhi,” Dipke said, adding that if the CEC doesn’t resign, “[Jantar Mantar] 2.0 will definitely happen”.

The CJP has also called for a halt to all forthcoming elections and demanded that voter rolls existing before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) be restored. It has sought an independent inquiry into the SIR exercise and asked the Supreme Court to take custody of files relating to decisions taken during the process.

“Our first demand is the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and initiation of criminal proceedings against him immediately.”

The second demand, according to the organisation, is that all upcoming elections be put on hold and pre-SIR electoral rolls restored across states. It has also demanded that an “independent inquiry commission should be constituted which will look into all proceedings of SIR so far. Supreme Court should seize all files related to decision making of SIR before they are destroyed by EC.”

The third demand is the repeal the 2023 Act for appointments of CEC and other election commissioners.

“There should be a new law for it which involves the civil society groups,” he said.

Dipke also urged citizens to publicly oppose what the organisation describes as the removal of voters from electoral rolls.

“Who is Gyanesh Kumar to revoke our right to vote... we should all come forward,” he urged.

He further said, “if you know the election is rigged you should take a stand, you cannot both participate in the election and speak against rigging.”

Das framed the issue as one concerning young people rather than any particular political party.

“Look, this is a very big conspiracy being plotted against the youth of the country, and we, the people of the country, will absolutely not tolerate it. As Abhijit said, we have no concern with the Opposition or with any particular political party, whether it is the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, or TMC. These are not issues of these parties; these are issues concerning the youth of the country,” he said.

“We are putting forward three demands. Demand number one: the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, initiation of criminal proceedings against him immediately, and an answer to the question: Who gave Gyanesh Kumar the orders? Who gave him the orders? Demand number two: immediately put all upcoming elections on hold. Freeze the SIR and roll back to the January 2025 voter list. Constitute an independent inquiry commission that will inspire public confidence and examine all the decision-making processes related to the SIR,” he added.

“The Supreme Court is equally culpable. Therefore, we also demand from the Supreme Court that all files related to the SIR and all files concerning the decision-making process of the SIR be immediately seized and placed in the court’s custody, so that tomorrow nobody can say that a fire broke out in the Election Commission of India building and the files were destroyed or went missing. Demand number three: repeal the 2023 law on the appointment of the Election Commissioners [ECs] of India and enact a new law that inspires public confidence, with the active participation of members of civil society,” he said further.

The CJP’s announcement came a day after The Indian Express reported that questions had repeatedly been raised within the three-member Election Commission over aspects of the SIR exercise by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The organisation also claimed that 12 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls through the SIR process and alleged that decisions taken by the CEC raised questions under Article 324 of the Constitution. These claims form part of the CJP’s broader argument that the conduct of the electoral-roll revision requires independent scrutiny.

The CJP has now linked its demands to a 48-hour deadline, saying its next course of action will depend on whether Kumar resigns within that period.