Delhi on Saturday turned into a scene of high political drama ahead of the ’s (CJP) protest at Jantar Mantar. Even before leaders and activists could reach the protest site, many were detained, including the outfit’s founder Abhijeet Dipke, co-convenors Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee.
Called by the CJP, the protest seeks the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) over alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls. With the national capital under a security blanket, a question remains: would Kumar’s resignation be enough for the CJP to call off its protest?
CJ
According to a report in The Week, CJP’s co-convenor Saurav Das said, “Even if Gyanesh Kumar resigns, we will not bow down.” Das asserted that the satirical outfit, which was formed after the Chief Justice of India (CJI) likened unemployed youth to “cockroaches”, would continue its agitation against Kumar until its demands were addressed.
According to media reports, the CJP is not just seeking Kumar’s resignation but has also made several other demands. These include putting upcoming elections on hold, freezing the Special Intensive Revision () exercise and constituting an independent inquiry commission to examine the decision-making processes involved in the SIR.
Separately, the satirical outfit has also called for criminal proceedings against Gyanesh Kumar and the repeal of the 2023 law governing appointments to the poll panel, and demanded an independent selection process for election commissioners.
According to a report published in The Indian Express last month, over 130 million names have been removed from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories during the ECI’s SIR exercise, which began last year in Bihar. The exercise has triggered widespread debate over the poll panel’s role in determining voter eligibility.
The investigation found that concerns were also repeatedly raised within the three-member Commission by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi during the same period. Although all three commissioners oversaw the nationwide SIR exercise, Sandhu and Joshi recorded at least 14 formal objections over 10 months, including four on one day. They said decisions had been made and orders issued without their knowledge.
As the CJP geared up to protest in the national capital, personnel from Delhi Police, Jammu & Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces were deployed to stop protesters from reaching Jantar Mantar. Separately, authorities also announced the closure of at least 57 in the capital and the cancellation of some trains, despite a Supreme Court order directing the Centre not to impose a complete shutdown of public transport.
Dipke and CJP’s co-convenors have been detained in the capital, along with some 1,500 other people, including politicians and activists. was detained in Gurugram. Several others have also been detained in different parts of the country, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in Chandigarh and Tushar Gandhi, an activist and the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in Mumbai.
Das’s remarks indicate that Kumar’s resignation alone would not be enough to end the agitation, with the CJP also pressing for an inquiry and changes to the electoral process. However, it remains to be seen whether Kumar will step down, as former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan did following the earlier protests.
