'Don't be selective, boycott all elections': CJP's Abhijeet Dipke's blunt message to Opposition

In a lengthy post on X, Dipke appealed to Opposition parties to refrain from participating in elections that he claims are "rigged", against the backdrop of The Indian Express' investigative report on alleged internal differences within the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Dipke questions Opposition's participation

Dipke claimed that the participation of Opposition parties in elections lends false legitimacy to the process and undermines democratic credibility.

He argued that selectively raising allegations of election rigging only in states where a particular party is affected weakens the Opposition's credibility. He also claimed that occasional electoral victories serve as "crumbs" that sustain the perception of fair contests.

"Maybe you keep contesting because you fear that if you don’t, you will stop existing. But what kind of existence are you trying to protect when votes are being stolen, your MLAs and MPs are being poached, and your parties are being split?" he wrote.

'This is not political survival'

The CJP founder further questioned how long Opposition parties could continue participating under what he described as an unfair electoral system.

"This is not political survival. You are simply trying to stay alive in a system that can weaken you, split your party or take away your elected representatives whenever it wants," he wrote.

"How long can you survive like this? And you cannot talk about election rigging only when it happens in states that matter to you and remain silent when it happens elsewhere. If elections are being rigged, it should matter regardless of the state or which party is affected," Dipke added.

Protest to begin from Mumbai on October 2

On Friday, the CJP convener reiterated the 48-hour deadline in a post on X and announced plans for a nationwide protest if Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar does not resign by the time.

"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. This Gandhi Jayanti let’s pledge to save democracy," Dipke wrote.

The proposed protest is scheduled to begin in Mumbai on October 2 and subsequently spread to other cities across the country.

Investigative report on SIR

The controversy follows a report by The Indian Express that detailed differences within the three-member Election Commission involving CEC Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

According to the investigation, Sandhu and Joshi formally raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months to decisions and orders concerning electoral rolls and the SIR. They reportedly said some decisions had been taken without their knowledge.

The objections covered changes to Form 6, access to the electoral-roll database, deletion and restoration of voter names, appeals related to electoral rolls and aspects of the ECI's internal decision-making.

The two Election Commissioners also reportedly raised concerns over what they described as the gradual centralisation of the electoral-roll database.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) at the constituency level have statutory responsibility for preparing and maintaining electoral rolls.

According to the investigation, Joshi called for an audit to ensure that only authorised statutory officials could alter the voter database, while Sandhu recorded complaints from state-level officials that they did not have "proper and complete access" to the relevant systems.

The report also said the two Commissioners separately wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan over changes in the ECI's work allocation that they felt could further concentrate control over the IT systems handling electoral rolls.

Election Commission rejects claims of internal rift

The Election Commission has disputed the interpretation of the report, saying that written objections, suggestions and differing views are part of its internal deliberative process.

EC sources said all decisions, including those concerning the SIR, were taken with the approval of all three Election Commissioners and were unanimous.