'Cockroach' protesters demand India's election chief resign over voter list changes
The group said the roll revision could disenfranchise 13 crore voters and accused the Election Commission of bias.
- On Friday, October 2, 2026, thousands of Cockroach Janta Party supporters gathered at Mumbai's Shivaji Park to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.
- The Indian Express reported last month that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding SIR decisions, though the Election Commission maintains all actions were unanimous.
- CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who led protests over exam-paper leaks that forced India's education minister to resign, addressed crowds accusing the commission of orchestrating 'vote chori' while demonstrators chanted 'Gyanu, it's done, bro.'
- Opposition parties led by the Congress-led INDIA bloc scheduled nationwide protests for October 6, while the CJP announced plans to expand demonstrations to Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and other cities by month's end, culminating at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
- The CJP demands Chief Election Commissioner Kumar's resignation, criminal proceedings against him, and freezing of the 2025 voter list; the youth-led movement, which emerged earlier this year from frustration over unemployment and exam leaks, now poses unprecedented pressure on Prime Minister Modi in his 12 years in power.
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150 Articles
‘Cockroach’ movement rallies again
India’s “Cockroach” youth movement yesterday called for new protests in Mumbai to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner over a contentious revision of voter lists.The movement, which began as an online campaign and now calls itself the Cockroach Janata Party, forced India’s educa
The protest organized by the political-satiric group Cockroach Janta Party (People's Party of Boats) began in Mumbai to demand the resignation of the president of the Indian electoral commission, Gyanesh Kumar: it is reported by several local media,... (ANSA)
A survey published last month by the daily The Indian Express reported irregularities during a major revision of the electoral lists, which led to the removal of millions of names. The Electoral Commission (ECI), long considered one of the country's most respected institutions often called "the largest democracy in the world", rejected any accusation of irregularity in this process. Opposition officials accused Gyanese Kumar, the president of th…
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