The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has urged India's opposition parties to stop contesting what it calls "rigged" elections and threatened nationwide protests on October 2 over the Election Commission's voter-list revision. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday posted on social media that if elections are being rigged, it should matter regardless of the state or which party is affected. "You cannot keep saying the game is rigged while continuing to play it. Your participation is the only thing that gives these rigged elections legitimacy," he wrote, calling on opposition parties to prioritize democracy over political survival.
The controversy escalated after the Hindustan Times reported that the Election Commission of India (ECI) introduced a "Mark VIP" feature in an app used by local election officials during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The feature was added to the BLO App on July 30, according to officials in Delhi's chief electoral officer's office. Apple's App Store records described the update as "mark VIP elector related changes." The ECI did not respond to questions about the feature or its legal basis.
A separate investigation by The Reporters' Collective found that election officials had been instructed to mark ministers, judges, bureaucrats, celebrities and other prominent figures as VIPs during the revision. It reported that such voters could receive preferential treatment, including avoiding hearings required of ordinary voters. In recent days, Delhi's chief electoral officer has issued notices to nearly 3.3 million voters during the SIR exercise, which included Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
On Thursday, Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that elections in India were being "rigged" and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. This followed an Indian Express report on objections raised by two election commissioners to decisions related to the SIR. The report said that Kumar's fellow Election Commissioners had raised at least 14 objections over 10 months to decisions on voter registrations and electoral data. In one instance, a complaint said the ECI acted against the written advice of two commissioners and claimed its action was "unauthorized and illegal."
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi defended the ECI, saying on Thursday that the SIR process was legally sound and that the commission's decisions were based on majority consensus. He said the law empowers the ECI to conduct an SIR at its discretion. Meanwhile, two petitions were filed in the Bombay High Court on Thursday challenging the SIR process in Maharashtra. In Bihar, yet another incident of alleged public harassment of a minor girl surfaced, with police registering a case against six unidentified youths after a video emerged.
Source: www.dw.com