India's 'cockroach' movement says it will launch protest if poll panel chief doesn't quit in 48 hours

MUMBAI: 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.

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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.

Differences are normal, poll panel says

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.”

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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.