On Sunday, at Malviya Smriti Bhawan in Delhi, on Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, a group calling itself Laal Hit Janta Party met. PTI, via the Times of India: it is a satirical counter to Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protests demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The name echoes an insect-control brand, a mirror of CJP. It is not a party registered for elections, convenor Ayan Bhatnagar told IANS.

Their motto, in the statement: nation first, respect for the Constitution. The call: peaceful protest, legal channels, especially to Gen Z. Speakers, PTI says: Bhatnagar and filmmakers Richa Gupta, Pawan Nagpal, Atul Gangwar. At Janpath, earlier, about 200 people, still TOI, to denounce alleged assaults on police and abuse aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The assaults remain alleged, in these reports.

CJP and others, including opposition parties and students, want Kumar’s resignation after electoral-roll revisions: hundreds of thousands of names deleted, Form 6 changed. TOI: the allegations remain subject to verification. We have not turned a demand for resignation into a sentence. Nor a counter-meeting into a street verdict.

NDTV: Bhatnagar accused CJP, Congress and the protesters of questioning institutions and hurting businesses. He said 50,000 people assembled does not make a demand binding. He tied CJP to Congress and AISA, to unseat the BJP government. That is his line, not an inquiry. We have not written that the protests are illegal.

They want debate on elections to go through verified evidence and the Election Commission. They also want questions on groups’ funding, again through documents and lawful investigation. This is not a Commission registration. It is not a vote.

We have not picked a side. A satirical group met on Sunday. Another has been protesting for days. Kumar is in office. The rolls, in these texts, are a dispute, not a closed figure.

Image: Election Commission of India, display board at Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi, 16 May 2009, GODL-India, Wikimedia Commons. Not Sunday’s meeting.

Sources consulted: ‘Laal Hit Janta Party’: New outfit emerges to counter CJP’s protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar — The Times of India; After CJP, New Group Formed In Delhi Names Itself ‘Lal Hit Janata Party’ — NDTV.