NEW DELHI – Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) along with student and civil society groups have started fresh protest in India and has demanded resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over changes to electoral rolls.
The fresh protests today have mounted pressure once again on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The CJP organised a demonstration in Mumbai, while student and activist groups gathered at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Police in both cities had denied permission for the planned demonstrations, according to Indian media reports.
The protests centre on the Election Commission’s nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Critics allege that the exercise could exclude eligible voters and claim that changes to electoral rolls have benefited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Election Commission and the government have rejected allegations of wrongdoing, saying the revision is intended to identify duplicate, deceased and otherwise ineligible entries and improve the accuracy of electoral records.
The controversy intensified after reports that two election commissioners had raised concerns with Kumar on multiple occasions over voter-list revisions, registration procedures and the commission’s digital systems. The Election Commission has maintained that differing views are part of normal institutional deliberations and that its decisions have complied with the law.
CJP national convener Abhijeet Dipke has vowed to continue the campaign and expand it to other parts of the country. The group emerged from a youth movement that initially focused on unemployment and alleged examination-paper leaks before expanding its demands to wider political and electoral issues.
The movement gained prominence earlier this year after protests over examination-paper leaks were followed by the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, according to reports.
India’s main opposition Congress party and other opposition groups have also announced demonstrations over the Election Commission’s handling of voter-list revisions, adding to the political pressure surrounding the issue.
