India's 'cockroach' movement demands election chief's resignation
Youth movement gives India's election chief until Saturday to quit over voter-list tampering claims, threatening nationwide protests from Mumbai on 2 October.
India’s satirical “cockroach” youth movement has threatened nationwide protests unless Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resigns by Saturday, over claims of meddling with voter lists.
Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke announced on Friday that protests would begin in Mumbai on 2 October — Gandhi Jayanti, marking Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday — and spread to cities across India if Kumar does not step down. “If Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by tomorrow, CJP will begin its nationwide protest from Mumbai on 2 October, and take it to cities across India,” Dipke posted on X.
The ultimatum follows a report in the Indian Express on Wednesday that two election commissioners raised questions with Kumar at least 14 times in 10 months, mostly over the process of updating voter lists that began last year. Opposition parties allege the lists have been manipulated to benefit Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
The opposition Congress party has announced protest marches on state election offices across India on Friday, demanding Kumar’s arrest, his removal and an independent review of decisions made under him. Separately, Rahul Gandhi has called for Kumar to “resign immediately”, with the opposition preparing an impeachment notice against the election chief.
The Election Commission said “differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution” and that all its actions were lawful. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said: “Neither the Election Commission of India nor any constitutional body in India is under dictatorial rule,” accusing the opposition of a smear campaign.
The CJP was born on Instagram in May after India’s chief justice compared unemployed young Indians to “cockroaches” and “parasites”. Al Jazeera notes its July protests forced the resignation of Modi’s education minister over exam-paper leaks — one of the prime minister’s biggest political setbacks since 2014.
Sources
- Al Jazeera, “India’s ‘cockroach’ movement demands election chief’s resignation”, 25 September 2026
- Economic Times liveblog, 25 September 2026: Rahul Gandhi demands Kumar’s resignation; opposition to move impeachment notice
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