India’s ‘cockroach’ movement targets election chief in political pivot

India’s “cockroach” youth movement is testing whether it can turn anger over education and jobs into a broader challenge to the country’s political establishment, two months after its protests helped force an education minister to resign over alleged entrance exam leaks.

Its latest target is another powerful institution: the country’s election watchdog. The shift marks a transition for the movement from high-profile demonstrations in New Delhi to a more diffuse campaign of school audits, meetings with authorities and demands for electoral reform.

Leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, after a local newspaper reported allegations that his handling of voter-list revisions could disenfranchise eligible voters and undermine confidence in India’s electoral process.

The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that two election commissioners had raised questions or expressed concern to Kumar at least 14 times in 10 months, mostly over the process of updating voter lists that began last year.