Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday sharpened his demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar step down, saying the group would launch a nationwide protest from Mumbai on October 2 if the CEC does not resign by Saturday.
The announcement follows a Thursday press conference in New Delhi in which Dipke and other CJP office-bearers had given Kumar 48 hours to quit. On Friday he narrowed the window in a post on X.
“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India. This Gandhi Jayanti let’s pledge to save democracy.”
October 2 is Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. Dipke said the campaign would start in Mumbai and then move to other cities.
The CJP’s attack is tied to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and a recent investigative report that said two Election Commissioners had formally recorded objections on multiple occasions to decisions on deletions, additions, restorations and changes in the registration process. Dipke has alleged large-scale deletion of names, described Kumar as a threat to democratic process, and demanded his resignation, a freeze on upcoming polls, restoration of earlier rolls, an independent inquiry, Supreme Court custody of SIR-related records, and repeal of the 2023 law on appointment of Election Commissioners.
At Thursday’s briefing he also warned of a “Jantar Mantar 2.0” style agitation if the CEC did not resign. He has separately argued that parties that call elections rigged should not continue to contest them.
The Election Commission has not issued a public response to Friday’s shortened deadline in the material reviewed for this report. Kumar remains in office. The claims of motive and scale of deletions are allegations by CJP; they have not been independently established in this article. Whether Kumar resigns by Saturday will decide if the Mumbai start on October 2 goes ahead as announced.
