Sonam Wangchuk backs CJP October 2 protest against CEC

Activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday backed the Cockroach Janta Party's proposed October 2 protest seeking accountability from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying efforts to improve accountability in the country and the electoral process deserved support. Wangchuk, however, said he might not be physically present at the protest, stressing that movements should be able to sustain themselves without his participation.

His comments came amid a row over the Election Commission's functioning after an Indian Express report said Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the past 10 months to decisions on voter registration and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Election Commission has asserted that all decisions relating to SIR received unanimous approval of all three commissioners. Opposition INDIA bloc parties are expected to meet in Delhi on September 30 to discuss a coordinated response.

Wangchuk also gave a deadline to the Centre on Ladakh talks, saying he would wait until the first week of October for the government to respond to demands raised in the region. He questioned why findings of a judicial inquiry into the September 2025 Leh violence, in which four people died, had not been made public.