New Delhi: Escalating the ongoing controversy surrounding the Election Commission of India and the Systematic Voter Information Routine (SIR) process, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his immediate resignation.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital on Thursday, Dipke warned that a failure to step down would trigger a nationwide agitation, which he termed “Jantar Mantar 2.0.”
Mounting a scathing attack on the polling body, Dipke accused Kumar of undermining the country’s democratic framework and acting as a partisan tool for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “A recent report on the Election Commission proves that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is a threat to India’s democracy. He must resign immediately,” Dipke stated. He argued that the core tenet of democracy has been compromised, alleging that under Kumar’s tenure, the government is effectively deciding who gets to vote.
To substantiate his claims, the CJP chief presented alarming figures regarding mass voter deletions across multiple states. According to Dipke, over two crore voters each were struck off the rolls in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. He further detailed the alleged deletion of 90 lakh votes in West Bengal, 97 lakh in Tamil Nadu, one crore in Karnataka, 73 lakh in Telangana, 47 lakh in Delhi, and 24 lakh in Kerala. In total, he claimed that more than 13 crore votes—representing roughly 13 to 14 per cent of the total electorate—have been deliberately removed.
Dipke argued that these targeted deletions were strategically orchestrated to secure BJP victories in regions where the party previously struggled, even during the peak of the “Modi wave” between 2014 and 2019. He alleged a specific pattern targeting key opposition chief ministers who united during the 2024 elections, including Mamata Banerjee, M.K. Stalin, and Arvind Kejriwal. According to Dipke, mass voter deletions in their respective constituencies far exceeded their eventual margins of defeat.
“Given Gyanesh Kumar’s extraordinary performance for the BJP, he should officially join the party. He has no right to remain India’s election chief,” Dipke remarked.
Adding to the pressure, senior CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, who were also present at the briefing, demanded the initiation of criminal proceedings against the CEC. They urged the immediate suspension of the controversial SIR process and called for an urgent rollback of the recent legislation governing the appointment of election commissioners.