'If Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign in 48 hours...': CJP's Abhijeet Dipke warns of nationwide protest

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke has sharply criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that large-scale deletion of voter names raises serious questions about India’s electoral process.

Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Dipke said, “Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is the country's biggest traitor. He is the biggest anti-national in this country, and he should resign immediately.” He claimed Kumar “poses the greatest threat to India's democracy.”

Dipke also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding his resignation over the alleged deletion of voters. Dipke said, “If within 48 hours Gyanesh Kumar doesn't resign, the Cockroach Janata Party will start a nationwide agitation. We won't step back till the time Gyanesh Kumar resigns.” He said the party would continue its protest until its demand for Kumar’s resignation is met.

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Dipke’s remarks followed an Indian Express investigation which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on record over voter registration, deletions, Form 6 and electoral-roll databases. More than 13 crore names had been struck off draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union territories under SIR. The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion of an internal rift and said all decisions related to SIR were taken unanimously.

Referring to the deletions, Dipke said, “In total, more than 13 crore votes have been deleted. This is not a small number.” He compared the figure with the 2024 Lok Sabha election, saying the NDA-opposition gap was about 2% and the deleted names amounted to roughly 13-14% of the electorate. He questioned whether the deletions were intended to widen that gap, asking, “Why is this being done? What was the need to delete so many votes?”

Dipke alleged a pattern involving opposition leaders and their constituencies. In West Bengal’s Bhabanipur constituency, where Mamata Banerjee contested in 2026, more than 51,000 names were deleted during SIR. Banerjee subsequently lost the seat by 15,105 votes. However, voter deletions alone do not establish that they caused the electoral result.

Dipke claimed around 1 lakh votes were deleted in MK Stalin’s constituency and around 40,000 in Arvind Kejriwal’s New Delhi constituency. The latter figure is supported by reporting that New Delhi saw nearly 40,000 deletions before the 2025 Delhi Assembly election, when Kejriwal lost the seat. The claim regarding Stalin’s constituency could not be independently verified from the sources reviewed.

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Dipke also referred to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying, “Pinarayi Vijayan would have won, but due to the deletion of votes in Kerala, he did not become the Chief Minister.” He provided no evidence that voter deletions determined the Kerala outcome.

He further argued that the BJP’s failure to win a Lok Sabha majority in 2024 triggered a political response, alleging that opposition leaders and regional forces were subsequently targeted. “This cannot be a mere coincidence; there is a clear pattern,” he said.

#WATCH | Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) Founder Abhijeet Dipke says, "A report concerning the Election Commission that surfaced yesterday proves that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is the country's biggest traitor. He is the biggest anti-national in this country,… pic.twitter.com/HfKBMeVpgu