CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said that if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by Saturday, the party will hold a nationwide protest on October 2 from Mumbai.
Abijeet Dipke announced this decision on behalf of his party in his X post on Friday. Dipke said CJP would begin its protest in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti and then take the agitation to cities across India.
Background details of the announcement
Dipke said the report on the Election Commission shows that Gyanesh Kumar is the biggest traitor in this country. He is the biggest anti-national. He alleged that the Election Commission's functioning under Kumar had undermined democracy.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has been demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, citing concerns over the Election Commission's handling of the ongoing SIR exercise.
The party's demand followed reports that two Election Commissioners raised objections to aspects of the exercise, including the use of centralised software and access to electoral-roll data.
Following the demand on September 24, CJP national convenor Abhijeet Dipke, along with co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, gave Kumar 48 hours to resign.
The party said that if he did not step down, it would launch a nationwide agitation and an indefinite sit-in in Delhi. CJP also announced an "Election Commission Thik Karo" campaign.
Details on the planned protest on October 2
On September 25, Dipke's X post says, "If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India. This Gandhi Jayanti, let's pledge to save democracy"
The announcement came after a day of demands for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation and a threat to launch a Jantar Mantar 2.0 agitation if the proposed demands were not met.
Ashutosh Ranka, CJP's co-founder, said, "There cannot be a better date than Oct 2 to reclaim our Republic."
The announcement also included criticism of opposition parties from Dipke, who argued that continuing to participate in elections while alleging that the electoral process is being compromised amounts to legitimising the process. These are CJP's political claims, rather than established findings.
Dipke further accused opposition parties of selectively alleging electoral manipulation, depending on the state or political party involved.
The protest announcement remains part of a wider political dispute over the poll panel's functioning and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Therefore, October 2 remains the most awaited day apart from Gandhi Jayanti. The nationwide protest remains a stated plan by the CJP, conditional on its demand for Kumar's resignation not being met.
