CHANDIGARH (GURPREET SINGH): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab on Saturday stood firmly with the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest in Chandigarh, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over vote-chori, with senior AAP leader and Punjab Prabhari Manish Sisodia, Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and several other party leaders detained by Chandigarh Police. Raising the slogan “Vote Choro, Kursi Chhodo”, AAP leaders and karyakartas mounted a strong protest against the BJP-led Centre, with Manish Sisodia declaring that Narendra Modi is afraid of the country’s youth because the BJP could not win elections honestly, while Harpal Singh Cheema asserted that Punjab’s youth would not be intimidated and would continue to defend democracy, the Constitution and the people’s right to vote.
Addressing the protesters, senior AAP leader and Punjab Prabhari Manish Sisodia stated, “Modi government is deploying the entire police machinery to prevent young people from reaching Jantar Mantar and demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. The government had created an atmosphere of fear by detaining young people, lawyers and other citizens seeking to exercise their democratic rights.”
The AAP Punjab Prabhari said “The government is using the police to stop young people from raising their voices against vote theft. People are being detained and sent to jail simply for demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner. The situation is so alarming that even during the Emergency, we did not witness such conditions.”
Questioning the BJP’s confidence in its electoral victories, he said the government was afraid of young people because its mandate was being challenged. “If Narendra Modi were genuinely popular and had won elections honestly, he would not be afraid of a few young people sitting at Jantar Mantar. But the Prime Minister is afraid because he has become Prime Minister by stealing votes, deleting genuine voters and adding fake votes,” he said.
Welcoming the participation of young people in Punjab and Chandigarh, Manish Sisodia said their decision to raise their voices against alleged electoral manipulation demonstrated that the country’s youth would not be intimidated by the BJP government. “I am here to support the CJP’s protest on behalf of the AAP, Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Singh Mann. Our demand is clear: Gyanesh Kumar must resign. Gyanesh Kumar is a traitor. Vote thieves must leave their positions. ‘Vote Choro, Kursi Chhodo’.” he said, asserting that the youth had taken to the streets to defend the sanctity of the people’s mandate.
Citing the Delhi Assembly elections, Manish Sisodia raised questions over voter deletions and their potential impact on electoral outcomes. He pointed out that 40,000 votes had been deleted from Arvind Kejriwal’s constituency, where Arvind Kejriwal subsequently lost by around 4,000 votes. He further claimed that 28,000 votes had been deleted from his own constituency, where he lost by just 600 votes. He said these figures warranted serious scrutiny and strengthened the demand for transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
Raising concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Manish Sisodia noted, “Genuine voters’ names are being deleted while fake votes are being added. In Uttar Pradesh, where elections are due, 13 lakh new votes had been added without the requisite forms being filled.” He contrasted this with the process followed by ordinary citizens, who must submit Form 6 and undergo verification to register as voters.
The AAP Punjab Prabhari also pointed out that the BJP had secured electoral victories in Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal through vote theft. “The resignation of Gyanesh Kumar was essential to restoring public confidence in the electoral process and called for the CJP’s movement to succeed,” he added.
Making an appeal to the country’s youth, Manish Sisodia linked the fight against vote theft to the sacrifices of India’s freedom fighters. “Anyone who loves Shaheed Bhagat Singh must demand Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Bhagat Singh sacrificed his life so that future generations could have the right to vote. By stealing votes, Narendra Modi is betraying Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Sukhdev and Rajguru. This is not merely an issue of vote theft; it is a betrayal of our freedom fighters and their sacrifices,” he said.
The senior AAP leader further said Punjab had historically raised its voice whenever authoritarianism threatened democratic freedoms. He said the protest in Chandigarh reflected the determination of Punjab’s youth to defend democracy and challenge the BJP government’s attempts to suppress dissent.
Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema also condemned the BJP government, saying that young people and citizens from every section of society were standing against vote theft. “The country is being pushed towards an Emergency-like situation, with Delhi resembling a police cantonment and extensive police deployment in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh aimed at preventing protests,” he added.
Harpal Singh Cheema said young people travelling from different parts of the country and abroad to defend democracy were being detained and jailed instead of being allowed to exercise their fundamental democratic rights. “The BJP government has adopted authoritarian methods and said the crackdown on protesters represented an attack on democratic freedoms. The youth of this country will succeed, and Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign because he stole votes for Narendra Modi,” Harpal Singh Cheema said, expressing confidence that the movement against vote theft would prevail.
Reiterating AAP Punjab’s support for the CJP’s agitation, the party said the right to vote was the foundation of democracy and that every attempt to undermine the electoral process must be challenged. AAP demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and called for the protection of voters’ rights, transparency in electoral rolls and the preservation of citizens’ democratic freedoms.
