'Gyanu must go,' says Dipke after ex-bureaucrat claims Gyanesh Kumar offered him BJP candidature

The CEC is at the heart of a controversy surrounding the commission after reports of alleged differences between the two election commissioners and Kumar.

Updated on: Sep 26, 2026, 21:49:09 IST

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Cockroach Janta Party leader Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday renewed his call for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation after a former Kerala chief secretary alleged that Kumar had offered him BJP candidature in the general elections.

According to a report by Onmanorama, former Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson alleged that Kumar asked him if he was interested in contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while travelling together on the same flight in 2016.

"We were together on a flight. He was waxing eloquent about Prime Minister Modi and openly asked me if I was interested in contesting as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta in the 2019 general elections. He was very persuasive; I declined it promptly," the report quoted him as saying. Jiji Thomson retired from the top post in 2016.

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Sharing the report on his Instagram handle, Dipke wrote, “Gyanu must go.” In a post on X, Dipke took a dig at Kumar saying, “Ye karwayenge free and fair elections. (He will ensure free and fair elections.)”

Citing the report, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also launched an attack on Kumar and accused him of “match-fixing elections”. “First, Gyanesh Kumar – then a serving IAS officer – was used to recruit for the BJP. Then Modi and Shah made him the umpire and put him in charge of match-fixing India's elections,” he wrote on X.

CEC Kumar is at the heart of a huge controversy surrounding the Election Commission after an investigative report by alleged differences between the two election commissioners and Kumar.

The Election Commission on Saturday reasserted that key decisions, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, were taken unanimously by the full commission.

The poll body has maintained that differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and asserted that its orders have full legal sanction and follow statutory procedures.

Earlier on Friday, Dipke said CJP would launch a nationwide protest from Mumbai on October 2 and take it to cities across India if Kumar did not quit. The Dipke-led group has also warned of a nationwide agitation, including what it called 'Jantar Mantar 2.0'.

Launching its "Election Commission Thik Karo" campaign, the CJP said it would focus on the exclusion of more than 13 crore names from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories during the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

CJP's call for protest was supported by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as he said, "If Gyanesh doesn't go, Mumbai will step out against Vote Chori from 2nd October, in huge numbers!"

(With PTI inputs)

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