Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 24: After the opposition parties including the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded resignation of the Chef Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for “rigging” the election process in the country, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday served a 48-hour ultimatum to the CEC to quit or face nation-wide agitation including “Jantar Mantar 2.0” if he does not step down within two days.
“To ensure free and fair elections, CEC Gyanesh Kumar must resign,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said. Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Mr 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,” Mr Dipke said, adding that if the CEC doesn’t resign, “Jantar Mantar 2.0 will definitely happen.”
Referring to the media report about the alleged “unilateral and illegal decisions” taken by the CEC brushing aside the objections raised by the two election commissioners, Mr Dipke said, “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.”
“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.
Dipke and CJP Spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka listed CJP’s three main 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.
Saying that, youth should come forward to save this nation Mr Dipke, added, “Who is Gyanesh Kumar to revoke our right to vote… we should all come forward.”
Mr Dipke also said Opposition parties should take a stand against election rigging. Addressing the Opposition parties, he added that, “if you know the election is rigged you should take a stand, you cannot both participate in the election and speak against rigging.”
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.
“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.
“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 CJP will launch a nationwide agitation before heading to Delhi,” he warned.
He gave state-wise figures of over 13 crore names removed from the draft voter lists across 30 states under the SIR process: Maharashtra: Over 2 crore, Uttar Pradesh: Over 2 crore, Karnataka: Approximately 1 crore, Tamil Nadu – 97 lakh, West Bengal – 90 lakh, Telangana – 73 lakh, Delhi – 47 lakh and Kerala – 24 lakh.
The national rollout of the SIR has been under the supervision of all three commissioners. But Sandhu and Joshi have formally objected, on record, at least 14 times over the last 10 months four times on a single day to decisions taken and orders issued, they say, without their knowledge, according to the media report. The opposition parties have criticised the Election Commission over the SIR exercise, alleging that it could disproportionately affect voters perceived to be not aligned with the BJP and its allies.