The Cockroach Janta Party has called a protest rally at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on 10 October, alleging irregularities in India’s Election Commission and voter rolls. The party says it has informed Parliament Street police station of the programme in writing.
Its chief spokesman, Sourav Das, said young people from across the country would take part. The rally is being held, he said, to protest over the questions raised about the Election Commission’s conduct, the voter rolls and various aspects of the electoral system.
Speaking to journalists in Delhi, Sourav Das said their movement would not stop even if the head of the Election Commission, Gyanesh Kumar, resigned. The party does not see one person’s resignation as the solution; it is demanding structural reform of the commission.
He said that besides resigning, Gyanesh Kumar should face action according to the law. The party is also demanding that the Special Intensive Revision now under way in the name of correcting the voter rolls be suspended and the decisions taken under it investigated.
He said steps were needed so that controversial people could not in future take charge of constitutional and important institutions such as the Election Commission. In his view one person’s resignation would not solve the crisis in the electoral system; what was needed was structural reform of the whole system.
Linking the 10 October programme to the concerns of the country’s young, he said allegations such as vote theft and control of the election process had caused anxiety among them. He said there were also questions about the commission’s role in enrolling first-time voters.
He added that various problems had arisen in enrolling new voters and that the commission must be held to account for these too.
The party has called on people across the country to join the rally. Sourav Das said the movement could be a long one and that they would continue their programmes until the necessary reforms were made.
The law and order situation in Delhi has also become important ahead of the programme. The party says Parliament Street police station was informed in writing in advance.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report