CJP Gives CEC Gyanesh Kumar 48 Hours to Resign Over SIR Roll Exclusions

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar within 48 hours, alleging irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, CJP National Convenor Abhijeet Dipke, along with co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, said Kumar must step down within two days or the party would launch a nationwide agitation and an indefinite sit-in in the capital. The party also announced a nationwide "Election Commission Thik Karo" campaign.

The CJP said it was protesting the exclusion of more than 13 crore names — roughly 13 to 14 per cent of the electorate — from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and union territories during the SIR exercise. It cited exclusions of over 2 crore names each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, around 1 crore in Karnataka, 97 lakh in Tamil Nadu, 90 lakh in West Bengal, 73 lakh in Telangana, 47 lakh in Delhi and 24 lakh in Kerala.

"Democracy means that people choose their government. This is not democracy, this is autocracy," Dipke said, alleging that the Election Commission had not adequately explained the basis for the exclusions or the mechanisms available to review them.

The demands come amid a media investigation reporting that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a 10-month period concerning decisions and orders related to voter additions, deletions, changes to Form 6 and the centralisation of electoral-roll data. The Election Commission has disputed that characterisation, stating that the notes were part of its decision-making process and that decisions taken during the period were unanimous. The CJP has asked the Commission to publish the objection notes and its responses so the competing claims can be independently examined.

Form 6 concerns

The party raised the online Form 6 process for applicants seeking inclusion in electoral rolls, alleging that an additional declaration was introduced requiring applicants to provide information about their own or their parents' presence in earlier SIR electoral rolls. The CJP said that while the section was not formally marked mandatory, applicants could not proceed without responding to it. It said the Election Commissioners had objected to the change, warning it could create difficulties for first-time voters.

West Bengal cases and data centralisation

The CJP also sought greater transparency in the Commission's handling of cases arising from the SIR exercise in West Bengal, including appeals by excluded voters and legal proceedings initiated by the Commission, saying records relating to such proceedings should be placed in the public domain.

On the centralisation of electoral-roll data, the party said the reported objections by Sandhu and Joshi regarding centralised software and access to electoral-roll data required a public explanation. "The Election Commission cannot ask citizens to trust a system while refusing to explain how major changes to voter registration, deletion and data access are being authorised," Das said. The party questioned who authorised the removal of names and whether adequate mechanisms existed for affected voters to seek review and restoration.

Three demands

The CJP put forward three demands: Kumar's resignation and an independent investigation into decisions taken during the SIR exercise; a halt to further SIR-related exclusions, restoration of the January 2025 electoral rolls pending verification, and transfer of relevant records to the Supreme Court or an independent judicially supervised inquiry; and repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, to be replaced with a framework involving wider institutional and civil-society participation.

The party also asked Sandhu and Joshi to publicly clarify their reported objections and urged the Commission to release the relevant records.