The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has given Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar 48 hours to resign, warning that it will begin a nationwide agitation if he does not step down. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke announced the ultimatum at a press conference in New Delhi on September 24, amid a growing controversy over reported disagreements within the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The party has made Kumar’s resignation its primary demand, alongside a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and a freeze on upcoming elections. Dipke said CJP would announce the details of its nationwide protest if the deadline passes and that the party is prepared to sit indefinitely in Delhi. “We won’t step back till the time Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” he said.
The development follows a two-part investigation by The Indian Express journalist Ritika Chopra, which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections to several decisions over the past 10 months. The ECI, however, has rejected the characterisation of these objections as an institutional rift, saying that differing views are part of deliberations and that all final decisions, including those concerning SIR, were approved unanimously by all three commissioners.
CJP Escalates Its Demands
Speaking at the Delhi press conference, Dipke said the party had shifted its attention towards what it calls the “Election Commission Thik Karo” campaign, making the functioning of the poll panel and the protection of voting rights its central concerns. The CJP has demanded Kumar’s resignation, a freeze on the ongoing SIR exercise and a halt to upcoming Assembly elections until what it describes as concerns surrounding the electoral process are addressed.
Dipke warned that failure to meet the 48-hour deadline would trigger protests across India, after which party members would move towards an indefinite sit-in in Delhi. He said the organisation would soon announce where and how the nationwide agitation would begin.
“We won’t step back till the time Gyanesh Kumar resigns,” Dipke said, underlining that the resignation demand would remain at the centre of the campaign. The CJP’s latest move follows its earlier mobilisation around electoral and education-related issues and comes as scrutiny of the ECI’s internal functioning has intensified.
What Sparked The Controversy?
The immediate trigger was The Indian Express‘s two-part investigation published on September 23 by Ritika Chopra, which examined the functioning of the three-member ECI. The report said Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections on record at least 14 times in 10 months, concerning matters including changes to Form 6, voter registration and deletion, appeals relating to electoral rolls, access to voter databases and aspects of the SIR process.
One report also highlighted concerns surrounding centralised control of electoral-roll software and a case involving 97 eligible voters in Goa whose names, according to the report, remained absent from the final roll despite local officials having found them eligible.
The ECI has disputed the suggestion that these exchanges demonstrate a breakdown within the Commission. In a clarification issued after the reports, ECI sources said individual opinions, observations and technical suggestions are a normal part of institutional deliberations and do not themselves constitute dissent in the final decision-making process.
The Commission maintained that all decisions, including those relating to SIR, were taken unanimously with the approval of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sandhu and Joshi. The disagreement over how these internal communications should be understood has now become part of a wider public debate over transparency, voter-list revisions and the functioning of India’s constitutional election authority.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The credibility of an electoral system depends not only on the conduct of elections but also on public confidence in how voter lists are prepared, corrected and maintained. Reports of repeated objections within an institution as important as the ECI naturally deserve scrutiny, while the Commission’s clarification and its explanation of how internal deliberations work must also be considered.
At the same time, political mobilisation over electoral concerns is most constructive when it remains peaceful, evidence-based and respectful of democratic institutions and citizens who may hold different views.
Demands for accountability should create space for transparent answers, dialogue and institutional correction rather than deepen distrust or confrontation. As the controversy develops, what steps can help ensure that concerns over voter rolls and the Election Commission’s functioning are addressed through transparency, dialogue and due process?
If CEC Gyanesh Kumar doesn’t resign in 48 hours, we will start a nationwide agitation.
— Cockroach Janta Party – CJP (@Cockroachisback) September 24, 2026
Gyanesh Kumar Isteefa Do! pic.twitter.com/mzsU8i5pft
