The “cockroach” youth movement, which counts millions of supporters and forced the education minister out in July, said it would launch protests across India on Oct 2 if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by Saturday.
The protests, which are b
acked by other opposition groups, mark a new political challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Kumar, 62, a former civil servant, was appointed to head the independent Election Commission of India by Modi’s government.
“Theft of votes is happening across the country,” local Congress party leader Amarinder Singh Raja said in Chandigarh in the northwest, one of at least two places where police fired water cannon after protesters climbed buses and barricades.
Congress and other opposition parties have accused the eleciton commission of colluding with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to manipulate voter lists and win state elections in recent years, charges both the commission and the BJP have denied. Kumar himself has not commented.
In at least a dozen of India’s 28 states, Congress supporters shouted slogans against Kumar, held up posters demanding his arrest and in one instance, burned an effigy of him and Modi.
In the capital Delhi, hundreds of protesters climbed barricades and hurled insults at a man wearing a Kumar mask.
The demonstrations were triggered by a report in the Indian Express newspaper on Wednesday that Kumar’s deputies had questioned him over changes to voter lists that opposition groups say benefit Modi’s BJP.
“For three years, I have been exposing vote theft. Now, the election commissioners themselves are acknowledging it and bringing the truth to light,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said late on Thursday, referring to Kumar’s deputies.
“Gyanesh Kumar has committed treason. He should resign immediately,” he added.
The Election Commission said differences among officers were normal in any institution and that all its actions were lawful. The BJP dismissed the report and said that opposition parties were indulging in a smear campaign because popular support for the BJP meant they lost elections.
State elections next year — including in the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, and Modi’s home state of Gujarat, both ruled by the BJP — are key tests of support ahead of parliamentary elections due in 2029.
The leaders of India’s “cockroach” youth movement said on Thursday that they would launch nationwide protests if India’s chief election officer does not resign within 48 hours, after a newspaper report said he had been questioned by his deputies over changes to voter lists.
Opposition parties have said the lists have been manipulated to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On Wednesday, the Indian Express newspaper said two election commissioners had raised questions or expressed concern at least 14 times in 10 months — mostly in connection with the process of updating voter lists that began last year — with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The report sparked a political furore, with opposition parties launching a fresh attack on the election commission that they have accused of being biased. The panel has denied these claims.
On Thursday, the main opposition Congress Party announced protest marches on all state election offices across India on Friday, demanding Kumar’s arrest, his removal from office and an independent review of all decisions and voter-list changes made under him.
The Election Commission of India has said that differences between election commissioners were normal for any institution and that all its actions were lawful. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, the Cockroach Janta Party will start a nationwide agitation … we will not back down without Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation,” said Abhijeet Dipke, who founded the self-named movement, at a press conference.
The Cockroach Janta Party is fresh off its successful youth demonstrations in July, which led to the resignation of Modi’s education minister over exam-paper leaks — one of Modi’s biggest political setbacks since he came to power in 2014.
“Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution,” the panel said in a statement on Wednesday following the newspaper report. “They are a part of the decision-making process before a final decision is taken.”
Kumar is one of three election commissioners and is the chief as he is the most senior.
Election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi — who the newspaper said had questioned and differed with Kumar — did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Opposition parties have criticised the conduct of the panel in recent years, alleging that names of millions of voters were deleted without warning and that new voters were added without verification to favour the BJP.
The BJP has defended the poll panel and said opposition parties had launched a smear campaign because they were regularly losing elections.
“Neither the Election Commission of India nor any constitutional body in India is under dictatorial rule … they are functioning democratically,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a media briefing on Wednesday.