CJP founder urges opposition parties to stop contesting elections they allege are rigged

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday urged opposition parties to stop participating in elections if they believe the electoral process is being rigged, saying their continued participation only legitimises such polls and creates an "illusion" that they are free and fair.

In a post on X, Dipke said opposition parties could not simultaneously claim that elections were being rigged and continue to contest them.

"Yes, elections are being rigged. But when you continue to participate in rigged elections, you legitimise these elections and help maintain the illusion that they are free and fair," he said.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder questioned whether opposition parties continued to participate because they feared that staying away from elections would lead to their political extinction.

"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 said.

"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. How long can you survive like this?" Dipke asked.

He also accused opposition parties of taking up the issue of alleged election rigging selectively, depending on the state or political party affected.

"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," the CJP convener said.

"You cannot keep saying the game is rigged while continuing to play it. Your participation is the only thing that gives these rigged elections legitimacy," he claimed.

Appealing to opposition parties to put democracy ahead of their political interests, Dipke said, "Think about the nation and its democracy before thinking about your own political survival. Take a stand and stop participating in rigged elections." 

Drawing an analogy with a fixed cricket match, he said an election could be made to appear competitive even if its outcome was allegedly manipulated.

"Just like in a fixed match, not every catch is dropped. Some catches are taken, and the match may even be dragged to the last over to make it look like a close fight," he said.

"In the same way, you will be handed a few wins, just enough to keep you contesting and to make people believe there was a real contest. Those few wins are the crumbs that keep you in the game and make the whole thing look legitimate," Dipke said.

The CJP founder had on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and threatened to launch a "Jantar Mantar 2.0" agitation if his demand was not met.

The remarks came a day after The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions and orders of the Election Commission, including on addition, deletion and restoration of voters and changes to the voter registration process

In the wake of the Indian Express report, the poll panel officials said the two commissioners had flagged decisions taken during the poll roll cleanup and handling of the voter database in various states.

EC sources maintained that all decisions of the Election Commission of India, including SIR, have been unanimous and with the approval of both the election commissioners and the chief election commissioner.