Activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday voiced his support for the protest call given by the Cockroach Janta Party, seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Wangchuk said he had offered complete support during the Jantar Mantar protest against the NEET UG paper leak earlier this year, when the CJP was “weak”, but now they have a “strong voice”, which he hoped would be able to “shake up the country”.
The Cockroach Janta Party, led by Abhijeet Dipke, has given a call for nationwide protests on October 2 if the CEC does not step down amid the ongoing controversy over alleged dissent within the election commission over its practices. CJP said it will launch the countrywide protest from Mumbai.
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Backing the call, Wangchuk said, “Clean election process is the biggest need of the country, and I fully support it.” The activist stated the efforts to improve accountability in the country and the electoral process deserved support.
Will Sonam Wangchuk join CJP protest against CEC?
Sonam Wangchuk however said that he might not be able to take part in the protest physically. “I cannot personally take part in every movement, but I give my initial support. I gave full support to CJP at Jantar Mantar when they were weak. Now they have a strong voice, and I hope their voice shakes up the country,” he was quoted as saying by new agency PTI.
The activist, who played a crucial role during the Jantar Mantar protests in July with a 26-day-long hunger strike, said, “The whole idea of supporting movements for me is that these movements are on their own. So there are many people now for that issue, and I am happy to see that, and therefore I hope I will not be needed on the CEC issue.”
The Ladakhi activist hailed October 2 as a “very sacred day” because it is the day when Mahatma Gandhi was born.
Why is CEC Gyanesh Kumar facing calls for resignation
His comments came amid a row over the functioning of the Election Commission after a report by The Indian Express claimed that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised several objections over decisions concerning voter registration, deletions and restoration of names and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The two poll commissioners had reportedly voiced dissent officially on at least 14 occasions in the past 10 months.
Dismissing the claims, the Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all decisions relating to the SIR process were taken after the unanimous approval of all three commissioners.
(With PTI inputs)
