The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has backed the Congress-led INDIA bloc’s November 1 rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan and renewed its demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
The CJP’s support suggests that separate opposition campaigns over alleged electoral fraud and the Election Commission’s handling of the voter-list revision may now be converging around a common protest platform.
“Nation above all!” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke posted on X while sharing a statement issued by the youth-led organisation. It was not immediately clear whether Dipke or other CJP members would attend the rally or join the stage.
The organisation said democracy rests on the principle that citizens choose their government, rather than the government choosing its voters. It alleged that Gyanesh Kumar had compromised this principle through the SIR exercise and no longer enjoyed the trust required to supervise free and fair elections.
The CJP said Kumar’s resignation was necessary to restore the credibility and independence of the Election Commission. It also declared that it would support organisations campaigning for free and fair elections in the country.
The decision follows weeks of parallel protests by the CJP and the Congress against Gynesh Kumar, along with demonstrations over paper leaks in June and July. The Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Left parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have backed the CJP. The Congress, however, did not participate in the organisation’s October 10 protest in Delhi, citing its own national movement.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the DMK have also supported the CJP despite their strained relations with the Congress-led INDIA alliance. Dipke had worked with the AAP’s social media and campaign operations from 2020 to 2023.
Dipke has maintained that the CJP would remain outside party politics, while clarifying that it was not opposed to the INDIA bloc because both campaigns shared a common cause. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has also used the phrase “all protests are one” in recent remarks.
Gandhi is said to have invited Dipke to a high tea attended by INDIA bloc leaders and civil society groups, although Dipke did not participate. Gandhi has also criticised the Delhi Police arrests of CJP leaders.
CJP leaders Saurav Das, Ashutosh Ranka and Ajinkya Shinde were detained while attempting to enter Jantar Mantar after the site had been denotified as a protest venue. Das and Ranka were released from Tihar after seven days after submitting written undertakings to a Special Executive Magistrate that they would not organise protests at Jantar Mantar until the venue was denotified in accordance with the law.
AISA chief Neha Bora has acted as a link between the two parallel protests.
Ramlila Maidan is one of three grounds designated for protests, as announced by the Delhi Police. Congress MP Jebi Mather said the rally was decided jointly after consultations with INDIA bloc parties and that the Opposition remained united on the demand for the Chief Election Commissioner’s resignation.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has asked party MPs to remain in Delhi from October 30 to November 1. The Delhi Police has issued a no-objection certificate for the rally, subject to conditions, allowing the programme to be held from 10 am to 5 pm.
The BJP has objected to the date. BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that Rahul Gandhi was insisting on November 1 to hurt the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and claimed that several INDIA bloc constituents wanted the event postponed. Gandhi responded on X by thanking the BJP and its allies for publicising the rally.
Election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally opposed decisions taken through the Chief Election Commissioner on SIR at least 14 times over a period of ten months. The disagreements became a major factor in the latest unrest.
The Election Commission has maintained that its SIR decisions were lawful and unanimous.
Dipke founded the CJP on May 16 after remarks made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant during a May 15 hearing were sarcastically interpreted as comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches. The CJI later clarified that he had been referring to people using fake degrees.
The pressure group subsequently succeeded in changing the education minister in July. It has since shifted its focus to alleged electoral fraud, an issue Rahul Gandhi has been raising for the past two years.
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