Mumbai (TDI): India’s self-described “Cockroach” youth movement has threatened to launch nationwide protests if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, intensifying a political dispute over the country’s electoral rolls and the functioning of the Election Commission.
Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, issued the ultimatum at a press conference on Thursday, saying the movement would begin a nationwide agitation if Kumar failed to step down.
The announcement follows an investigation by The Indian Express reporting that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections or concerns at least 14 times over a 10-month period, including over procedures related to voter-list revisions.
The report has triggered renewed criticism from opposition parties, which have accused the Election Commission of mishandling voter-list revisions and questioned its impartiality. The commission has rejected allegations of bias and said differences of opinion among commissioners are a normal part of institutional decision-making.
The Election Commission said decisions taken during the past year were approved unanimously by the full commission, arguing that individual observations and disagreements are part of the deliberative process before final decisions are reached.
Read More: India’s ‘Cockroach’ Protest Movement Demands Education Minister’s Resignation
The controversy has also prompted the opposition Congress party to announce protest marches at election offices across India, demanding Kumar’s removal and an independent review of decisions and changes to voter lists made during his tenure.
Opposition parties have separately alleged that voter names were deleted without adequate notice and that new voters were added without proper verification in ways they say could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP has rejected the allegations and accused opposition parties of conducting a campaign against the election authorities.
Read More: Cockroach Janta Party: Another Revolutionary Movement in South Asia?
The dispute centres partly on the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a process that began in Bihar in 2025 and has since expanded to other parts of India. The Indian Express reported that the exercise has resulted in more than 13 crore names being removed from draft voter rolls across 30 states and union territories, making the process a major focus of political debate.
The latest confrontation adds to growing political pressure on Kumar and the Election Commission, with opposition parties also considering parliamentary action seeking the chief election commissioner’s removal.
