CJP to take up ECI reforms issue as CEC Gyanesh Kumar faces flak

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and party spokespersons Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. File | Photo credit: PTI

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has campaigned on issues such as school infrastructure and tribal education, said on Wednesday (23 Sep 2026) that such efforts would not bring about any change if people’s right to vote was threatened, and said protecting elections was key to solving other problems facing the country.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the group will take up the issue of reforms in the Election Commission as there has been a major row after disputes emerged in the Election Commission with two election commissioners repeatedly disagreeing with the special intensive review (SIR) of the electoral rolls that was leaked to the public on Wednesday.

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“Election Commission Thik Karo! Important PC tomorrow in Delhi. Gyaneshi, it’s done bro,” said Mr. Dipke on X.

The CJP has canceled its programs scheduled for Thursday (September 24, 2026) and said its leadership will address a press conference in Delhi at noon on the ‘Hijack of India’s Democracy’.

Alleging that the Election Commission is “stealing our votes”, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said, “Nothing will work because the Election Commission of India is compromised.”

Mr. Das said the CJP could continue its campaigns on schools, unemployment, infrastructure and examination irregularities, but these would ultimately serve little purpose if people could not exercise their right to vote and change the system through elections.

“We can do so many School Theek Karos, we can do so many Adivasi School Theek Karos… but nothing will help us if our ultimate tool that we can use to change our system, the right to vote, is stolen from us,” Mr. Das said in a video statement.

The remarks came after media reported on Wednesday (September 23) that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected to the Election Commission’s decisions and orders at least 14 times in the past 10 months, including adding, deleting and renewing voters and changes in the voter registration process during SIR electoral rolls.

The opposition demanded the abolition of the SIR and the impeachment and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

“The fundamental tool for change is elections,” Mr. Das said, adding that if elections are “stolen” from the younger generation and others, “then how will anything change?”

He said that the organization is therefore trying to pay more attention to the functioning of the Electoral Commission and the protection of the right to vote.

Following the report, ECI officials said that the two commissioners flagged the decisions taken during the cleaning of polling station list and processing of voter database in various states.

ECI sources claimed that all decisions of the Election Commission of India, including the SIR, were unanimous and with the concurrence of both the Election Commissioners and the Chief Election Commissioner.

Published – 24 Sep 2026 06:51 IST