CJP demands CEC resignation amid escalating SIR controversy (Img: X
The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with party founder Abhijeet Dipke criticising his role amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Dipke alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner had undermined the democratic process and called for his immediate resignation.
"Chief Election Commissioner is the biggest anti-national. Gyanesh Kumar is the biggest anti-national of this country. He should resign immediately because he is the biggest threat to India's democracy."
Dipke also questioned the Election Commission's role in determining voter eligibility and argued that the process of deciding who can vote raises questions about the functioning of democracy.
"What did democracy mean in our country? Democracy meant that the people would elect the government. Since Gyanesh Kumar became the Chief Election Commissioner, the government has been deciding who will be allowed to vote and who will not. Is this democracy? What kind of definition of democracy is this? You have turned the entire concept of democracy upside down."
The CJP's remarks come amid a wider political dispute over the functioning of the Election Commission and the implementation of the SIR exercise.
The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to meet in New Delhi on September 29, with the issue and the prevailing political situation expected to be discussed.
The controversy gained further attention following a report by The Indian Express, which said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months regarding decisions and orders related to electoral-roll procedures and the SIR.
The reported objections have led to questions about the internal functioning of the three-member Election Commission and the process through which decisions concerning electoral rolls were taken.
However, the Election Commission has rejected suggestions that such exchanges indicate a division within the poll panel.
The Commission has maintained that differing views, observations and discussions are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member constitutional body. It has also stated that all final decisions, including those related to the SIR exercise, were taken unanimously by the three commissioners.
