Why the latest action from India's youth-led 'cockroach' movement is targeting the election chief

The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) in India has intensified its criticism of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, targeting his resignation amid allegations of impropriety during a large-scale voter-roll revision. The investigation, published in The Indian Express newspaper, found that some key decisions linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls may have been made without the approval of two out of three election commissioners.

Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised at least 14 formal objections over ten months to decisions concerning voter registrations, deletions, and restorations. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke called Kumar "the biggest threat to India's democracy" and threatened nationwide protests if he did not resign by Saturday.

However, Kumar did not step down, leading the CJP to plan protests starting in Mumbai on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. Opposition parties, including the Congress party, have echoed the CJP's criticism, accusing the Election Commission of colluding with India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to manipulate voter lists and win state elections.

The CJP's demands also include a freeze on the SIR, suspension of upcoming elections, and the repeal of the 2023 law on the appointment of election commissioners. Legal experts argue that the unilateral decisions made by Kumar, as a single member of the three-member commission, could be challenged as invalid, potentially leading to intervention from the Supreme Court.