Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has a message for the political pressure group Cockroach Janta Party — demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly.
Speaking at a conclave of a news channel, Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener said in a veiled remark that whatever Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar did was at “the behest of the boss”.
“First, you demanded the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. Now you’re demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. I say, go ahead and directly demand the boss’s resignation. Everything is happening at his behest,” Kejriwal said during the conclave, a clip of which he shared on his X account with the same caption.
“Now the movement should be for Narendra Modi’s resignation,” he added.
Kejriwal’s remarks come after CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke warned of nationwide protests on October 2 if the CEC did not step down by September 26.
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The outcry against the CEC comes after allegations of dissent within the election commission over its practices and decisions that was reported by the Indian Express.
CJP had said it will launch the countrywide protest from Mumbai.
However, on Sunday, Dipke said the Mumbai Police has denied permission for launching its protest against Gyanesh Kumar in the city on October 2, following which, he warned that the CJP will launch a Jail Bharo Andolan in Mumbai on Gandhi Jayanti if their “right to protest” is denied.
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“Mumbai Police has also denied permission for our protest on 2nd October. Such tactics to suppress citizens’ voices are unacceptable,” Dipke wrote in a post on X.
‘Ball now in our court’
On Monday, CJP’s Ashutoh Ranka asserted that they will not back down from their demand of the CEC’s resignation. He claimed that Kumar had removed the names of 13 crore people from electoral rolls and “defrauded” them. He also questioned why the BJP was “defending” Kumar over these allegations.
“For 48 hours, the ball was in Kumar’s court; now it is in CJP’s court. We will start our nationwide protest on October 2, and we won’t back down till he resigns. CJP is a platform which, if it gets involved in any matter, doesn’t let go of it until we win,” Ranka said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
‘CEC will be humbled by Gen Z’
CJP’s co-convener Saurav Das said on Monday that Gyanesh Kumar, who enjoyed “arrogance and impunity”, would be “fully humbled” by the Gen Z.
“From walking with so much arrogance and impunity to not being able to leave his residence and cancelling Gen-Z engagements, life has humbled Gyanu. A lesson for other stooges too. Now the young-gen will ensure he is fully humbled,” Das said.
