NEW DELHI: India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has threatened to launch nationwide protests from October 2 if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by Saturday, stepping up its campaign over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced the protest plan on Friday, saying the movement would begin in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti and subsequently spread to cities across India.
If CEC Gyanesh Kumar doesn’t resign in 48 hours, we will start a nationwide agitation.
Gyanesh Kumar Isteefa Do! pic.twitter.com/mzsU8i5pft
— Cockroach Janta Party – CJP (@Cockroachisback) September 24, 2026
The group had given Kumar 48 hours to step down, accusing the Election Commission of undermining voters’ rights and demanding action over its ongoing revision of electoral rolls.
Voter Roll Dispute
The campaign follows an investigation by The Indian Express that reported Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months concerning decisions by the poll panel.
The reported objections included issues related to the addition, deletion and restoration of voters, changes to electoral forms and access to electoral-roll data.
Opposition parties have separately criticised the Election Commission over the revision of voter lists, alleging that changes could affect electoral participation and benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Election Commission has rejected suggestions of an institutional breakdown, saying differing views, written observations and internal checks are normal within a multi-member constitutional body. It has maintained that its decisions were unanimous.
BJP Under Pressure
The controversy adds to wider political pressure on the BJP government over the conduct of the electoral process.
The CJP has also demanded that upcoming elections be put on hold and that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be frozen or rolled back.
The group gained prominence earlier this year through youth-led protests, including a 37-day demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that preceded the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, according to Indian media reports.
If Kumar does not resign by Saturday, the planned October 2 mobilisation would mark a new phase in the group’s campaign against the Election Commission and the BJP-led government’s handling of electoral rolls.
