CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke calls on Opposition to stop contesting ‘rigged’ polls

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday urged opposition parties to stop running in elections if they have any suspicion of rigging, saying that doing so gives the elections legitimacy.

“If elections are being rigged, it should matter regardless of the state or which party is affected,” Dipke wrote in a post on X. “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.”

Dipke urged opposition parties to set democratic concerns above political interests and said they should “stop participating in rigged elections”, according to PTI.

He compared it to a fixed cricket match, saying some games could still look legitimate even if the result of an election had been rigged.

“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.

A day after Dipke’s remarks, the CJP asked Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign and threatened to launch a countrywide protest if he did not resign within 48 hours.

The Election Commission has said decisions including those related to revision of electoral rolls are taken through its institutional process.