Cockroach Janta Party founder and national convener Abhijeet Dipke has urged Opposition parties to boycott elections they describe as rigged, arguing that continued participation weakens their allegations of manipulation.
Dipke made the appeal on X amid a renewed political dispute over the functioning of the Election Commission of India and its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. He said Opposition parties should “take a stand” rather than contest elections while simultaneously questioning the fairness of the process.
His intervention followed an Indian Express investigation reporting that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and administrative instructions connected with the SIR exercise. The report said some objections concerned deletion and addition of voters and decisions allegedly taken without the commissioners’ knowledge.
The Election Commission rejected suggestions that the exchanges demonstrated a split over its final decisions. It said differing views and queries during the drafting and deliberative stages were part of normal institutional functioning, while final decisions concerning the SIR had been approved unanimously.
The BJP has similarly argued that internal discussion among commissioners does not establish wrongdoing and has defended the SIR as legally valid. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said differences expressed during deliberations reflected democratic institutional functioning, while Sudhanshu Trivedi accused the Opposition of seeking to discredit the electoral process.
Dipke’s call goes further than the strategy adopted by major Opposition parties, which have continued to contest elections while challenging aspects of electoral-roll revision and Election Commission procedures.
The CJP leader has emerged as an outspoken critic of electoral practices and political financing. Earlier this week, he questioned the influence of money in the Delhi University Students’ Union elections, citing the visibility of expensive vehicles and campaign spending as evidence of what he described as the growing role of financial power in electoral contests.
