Guwahati: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Thursday gave Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar 48 hours to resign over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning of a nationwide agitation followed by an indefinite sit-in in Delhi if its demands are not met.

Addressing a press conference at the Guwahati Press Club, CJP East and Northeast zone in-charge Ankit Bharadwaj said the party had launched its nationwide “Election Commission Thik Karo” campaign against what it described as large-scale exclusions from draft electoral rolls during the SIR exercise.

Bharadwaj said more than 13 crore names had been excluded from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories. He said the figure represented roughly 13-14% of the electorate affected at the draft-roll stage.

CJP cited exclusions of more than 2 crore names in Maharashtra, more than 2 crore in Uttar Pradesh, around 1 crore in Karnataka, 97 lakh in Tamil Nadu, 90 lakh in West Bengal, 73 lakh in Telangana, 47 lakh in Delhi and 24 lakh in Kerala.

“Democracy means that people choose their government. This is not democracy, this is autocracy. Under Gyanesh Kumar, we are seeing an electoral system in which the Election Commission is deciding who remains on the voter rolls and who does not. When millions of names can disappear from draft rolls, the burden is on the Commission to establish that every exclusion is lawful, transparent and subject to meaningful review,” Bharadwaj said.

The ultimatum came a day after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders concerning voter additions, deletions, changes to Form 6 and the centralisation of electoral-roll data. The Commissioners reportedly described some of the steps as “unauthorised” and “illegal” and raised concerns over the centralisation of the voter database.

“Two of the three Election Commissioners formally objected to decisions being taken without their knowledge or approval. The Election Commission must publicly explain how these objections were dealt with and who authorised the decisions in question,” Bharadwaj also said.

Bharadwaj  further said the party wanted immediate scrutiny of three areas. These included the Election Commission’s online Form 6 process for first-time voters, its handling of appeals arising from the West Bengal SIR and the centralisation of electoral-roll data.

On first-time voters, CJP alleged that the Election Commission had introduced an additional declaration in the online Form 6 process requiring new applicants to provide information about their own or their parents’ presence in earlier SIR rolls. The party cited the Indian Express report that, although the section was not formally marked mandatory, applicants could not proceed without answering it.

CJP said the two Election Commissioners had objected to the change, describing it as unauthorised and warning that it could create difficulties for young, first-time voters.

On the West Bengal SIR, the party demanded transparency in the handling of cases involving excluded voters and the Election Commission’s legal actions in the matter. It said all records relating to the proceedings should be placed in the public domain and examined independently.

On the centralisation of electoral-roll data, CJP referred to the Indian Express investigation, which reported that the dissenting Commissioners had raised concerns over the gradual centralisation of the electoral-roll database and the role of centralised software in overriding or restricting access available to state-level election officials.

“The Election Commission cannot ask citizens to trust a system while refusing to explain how major changes to voter registration, deletion and data access are being authorised. Every decision affecting a citizen’s right to vote must have a clear legal basis, an identifiable decision-maker and a transparent record,” Bharadwaj said.

He further said the consequences of exclusion could extend beyond elections where voter records are used for administrative verification.

“Who authorised the removal of citizens from electoral rolls without first ensuring a transparent and accessible remedy? The right to vote is a constitutional right protected through the electoral framework under Article 326. The Commission must answer to the citizens whose names have been excluded,” he said.

The party demanded the immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and an independent investigation into decisions taken during the SIR, including identification of the officials who authorised disputed changes and directions.

It also demanded an immediate halt to further SIR-related exclusions, restoration of the January 2025 electoral rolls pending verification, and transfer of all relevant SIR records and files to the Supreme Court or an independent judicially supervised inquiry.

CJP further demanded repeal of the 2023 law governing the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners and its replacement with a framework involving wider institutional and civil-society participation.

The party also demanded that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi publicly clarify their recorded objections and that the Election Commission publish the relevant objection notes and responses.

The Election Commission has disputed the characterisation of the reported objections, saying the notes were part of the Commission’s decision-making process and maintaining that decisions taken during the period were unanimous. CJP said the Commission should make the underlying records public so that the competing claims could be independently examined.

“If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign within 48 hours, we will take this campaign to the streets,” Bharadwaj said. “The Election Commission must answer the country. We will continue the agitation until there is transparency, accountability and a credible process for restoring every eligible voter who has been wrongly excluded.”

Four CJP national executive committee members—Ankit Bhardwaj, Akash Prem, Varun Agrawal and Anam—arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday for an organisational visit scheduled till September 28.

The party plans its first volunteers’ meet involving participants from northeastern states on September 27. On September 23, Bhardwaj and two other leaders joined a Raijor Dal rally in Guwahati seeking compensation for flood-hit families in upper Assam. Bhardwaj questioned the state government’s handling of recurring floods and alleged it had yielded to sand mining interests.

On September 22, CJP Assam Core Coordinator Shahil Uddin had briefed the media in Guwahati about the national team’s visit and the party’s plans to expand in the Northeast, including free legal support for supporters.

Addressing the press meet in Guwahati Press Club, Bharadwaj focused on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Bharadwaj demanded that Gyanesh Kumar resign within 48 hours. He alleged that the BJP’s vote share rose sharply after Kumar took charge and claimed elections had been manipulated. The party listed three demands: Kumar’s resignation along with a criminal probe, a halt to the SIR process, and repeal of the 2023 law on the appointment of election commissioners.

He said if the demands were not met, the organisation would launch a nationwide agitation.