Cockroach Janta Party founder calls elections pointless while Chief Election Commissioner remains in office

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has asserted that participating in elections is “pointless” as long as Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar remains in office, claiming that current electoral outcomes are predetermined.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Dipke alleged that the ruling BJP is winning in states where it failed to secure victories even during the peak of the Modi wave, attributing this trend to the CEC. He demanded that Kumar resign to ensure free and fair polls, adding that only his departure and the freezing of special electoral mechanisms would reveal the BJP’s actual electoral standing.

Dipke was in Pune to express solidarity with students protesting against the Maharashtra government over alleged Maharashtra Public Service Commission examination irregularities.

The remarks follow police action regarding an earlier protest in Mumbai. A resident and advocate, Siddhi Deolekar, lodged a complaint at the Shivaji Park Police Station against Dipke, Ashutosh Ranka, Saurav Das and Ratna Singh for allegedly proceeding with a protest against CEC Kumar on Saturday despite police denial of permission. Addressing reports of the case on social media, Dipke posted on X that authorities could file more cases, but his party would continue fighting to save democracy.

The political friction surrounding the Election Commission follows a report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally raised objections on 14 occasions over a ten-month period concerning voter registration, electoral rolls and technology systems. However, the Election Commission has rejected the suggestion that these reported objections constituted institutional dissent over final decisions.