In India, youth movement threatens protests over election commission chief’s resignation — Dawn

In India, leaders of the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party said they would launch nationwide protests if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours. The ultimatum came after a report on disagreements within the Election Commission over the revision of voter lists.

As Dawn reports, citing Reuters, movement founder Abhijit Dipke announced a possible protest campaign at a press conference in New Delhi. He said Cockroach Janta Party would not stop its actions until Kumar leaves office.

Report on disagreements

The Indian Express reported on September 23 that two election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had questioned or raised concerns with the chief commissioner at least 14 times over 10 months. Most of these remarks, according to the publication, concerned the voter list revision process that began last year.

Gyanesh Kumar is one of three members of India’s Election Commission and heads it as the body’s most senior member. Sandhu and Joshi did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

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Opposition and commission reaction

India’s opposition claims that voter lists may have been altered in favor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Opposition parties have also previously said that the names of millions of voters were removed without notice and that new voters were added without verification. The Election Commission rejected accusations of bias and said all its actions were lawful.

The main opposition Congress party announced plans to hold marches to election authorities in all states of the country on Friday. It demands Kumar’s arrest, his removal from office, and an independent review of all decisions and changes to voter lists made under his leadership.

The Election Commission said differing views and remarks are a normal part of discussions in any institution. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra called the opposition’s allegations a campaign to discredit the electoral body.

In July, Cockroach Janta Party held youth demonstrations, after which India’s education minister resigned amid leaks of examination papers.