CJP Anti-CEC Protests Against Gyanesh Kumar Draw Global Attention

CJP Anti-CEC Protest: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) began protesting the NEET paper leak in Delhi in June and that protest has now grown to encompass opposition to the SIR of the electoral rolls and to Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar.

With the Congress, the Left and other opposition parties now in the fold, the question is whether this is a movement that is occurring in isolation or whether it is in fact being orchestrated by a much wider network of political actors in India, overseas advocacy groups and international campaign groups.

Are the international NGOs, the global activists and the opposition parties all pulling together to put pressure on the Government? Looking at the links they cite will go some way to explaining how a local protest has become a global one.

This report looks at the organisations, the people and the networks involved in the mobilisation. It covers the well-known political figures, the foreign institutions and the overseas events in which YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has been involved.

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There's no evidence of any direct financial funding of specific domestic protests in India. What we do see is the existence of transnational networks and people who are actively working to advance the internationalisation of those protests.

Rahul Gandhi Connection with Global Progressive Alliance (GPA)

Anti-CEC Protest: The Global Progressive Alliance (GPA) is a coalition of left, socialist and social democratic parties from across the world. Rahul Gandhi, who is the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, is a member of the GPA's Praesidium for Asia and his advisor Sam Pitroda is on the board. When Rahul Gandhi was in Germany for five days in December 2025, Pitroda indicated that the visit was in the context of Gandhi's work with the GPA.

In July 2026, following the Delhi Police detaining both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during the student protests over the NEET paper leak, the GPA issued a statement on X (Twitter) in which it criticised the police and said it was monitoring the situation. That in itself demonstrated that an international political grouping was taking an interest in a domestic issue involving one of its members. The GPA's support for the protesters in no way suggests that it was the organisation that had orchestrated or led the protests.

Involvement of International Networks Draws BJP’s Criticism

Anti-CEC Protests: The BJP have raised the issue of international networks being involved in the Indian political protests. In December 2025 BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the GPA network is connected to organisations which are funded by George Soros and the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The BJP have also referenced links to certain European civil society groups (Campact in Germany for example) which have received OSF funding.

The implication is that such links could enable Western political groups to influence the strategy of the Indian opposition. Again these are political allegations and the fact that an organisation has received funding from a donor in no way proves that the donor has directed the organisation's activities or coordinated a protest.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee’s London Event Link

Jantar Mantar Protest: The mobilisation clearly demonstrated its global reach through events abroad, including the London gathering featuring YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and New York protests in support of the Chief Justice of India. Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR) have been behind campaigns against the Modi government and have been actively encouraging protests in the US and UK under the banner of "Jantar Mantar is everywhere!"

They also attended the London event with Rathee. Protests took place or were planned in a number of other cities across the US (Austin, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago), Australia (Melbourne), Australia (London, Dublin, Berlin, Manchester), and Canada (Toronto, Vancouver).

Role of HfHR in Promoting Rally in New York

Anti-CEC Protests: HfHR held a rally at Union Square in New York on 18th October. The speakers at the event were Abby Govindan, Aatish Taseer, Shaifali Puri, Mandeep Minhas, Shruti Ganguly, Shivani Parikh, Yashica Dutt and Anurima Bhargava. Many of them have been vocal in their criticism of the BJP on issues of citizenship, the CAA, Kashmir, the farmers' protests, minority rights, caste and so on. They have also spoken about the dangers of majoritarianism and authoritarianism.

Aatish Taseer (British born writer/journalist) was one of the speakers. He authored the Time cover story of 2019 'India's Divider in Chief' which was a scathing critique of PM Narendra Modi. The BJP government stripped him of his OCI status, citing his father's Pakistani nationality as the reason. Taseer has challenged that decision. HfHR also supported Neha Bora who was arrested at a protest in Delhi. Sunita Viswanath (co-founder of HfHR) publicly called for Bora's release.

HfHR also facilitated international support for the CJP's July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar with demonstrations either taking place or being planned in North America and Europe (New York, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Fremont, Austin, London, Dublin, Berlin, Manchester, Toronto and Vancouver). Organisers reported that over 500 students and community members assembled in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Union Square in New York on July 24th.

Delhi Police Detains Protestors During Their March to Election Commission Office

In a recent update on anti-CEC protests, Delhi Police detained protestors on their way to the Election Commission headquarters, who were marching against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The march took place near Gole Dak Khana in Central Delhi.

Participants are adamant that Gyanesh Kumar resign and that the SIR exercise be scrapped over voter deletions that weakened electoral rights. To control the situation, authorities have deployed a large number of Police and RAF (Rapid Action Force) personnel. Authorities have announced traffic disruptions around Connaught Place, Parliament Street, and nearby areas. The protest march also includes activist Yogendra Yadav and CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat.

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