Prakash Raj, Dhruv Rathee join CJP’s Bengaluru protest over SIR, demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation
Mangalore Today News Network
Bengaluru, Oct 8, 2026: Freedom Park in Bengaluru witnessed a large protest on Thursday morning, with more than 2,000 people gathering for a state-level demonstration and a ‘People’s Tribunal’ demanding that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls be scrapped and paper ballots restored.
The protest was organised by a coalition of progressive groups and civil society organisations. Popular YouTuber and digital content creator Dhruv Rathee attended a public protest in India for the first time. Actor-activist Prakash Raj, political commentator Parakala Prabhakar, veteran writer Devanuru Mahadeva and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke also participated, drawing a significant turnout of young and Gen Z activists.
Addressing the gathering, speakers accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of acting in favour of the Union government. Organisers alleged that the SIR exercise had resulted in arbitrary and opaque deletions from electoral rolls, claiming that more than one crore of Karnataka’s 5.5 crore voters face the risk of exclusion in connection with Form 6 and Form 7 applications.
Former minister Mukhyamantri Chandru criticised the policies of the Central government while speaking on the sidelines of the protest.
“In the name of SIR, they are taking away the voting rights of legitimate citizens. It is an anti-constitutional move to manipulate electoral outcomes instead of winning votes fairly. Just as electoral bonds were used to channel money, SIR is being used to remove Opposition votes,” Chandru told DH.
He also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Protesters displayed placards carrying messages such as “Sack Gyanesh Kumar”, “Scrap SIR” and “Bring back ballot papers”. Banners featuring revolutionary Che Guevara, Bhagath Singh and Chandrashekar Azad were also displayed.
People’s Tribunal convened
A People’s Tribunal was convened at the venue as part of the programme to hear testimonies from citizens who claimed to have been affected by voter roll deletions.
The tribunal bench includes retired Supreme Court judge V. Gopala Gowda and legal experts. It is scheduled to hear accounts alleging administrative lapses and disenfranchisement during the ongoing electoral roll revision process across Karnataka.
“The ECI has violated the fundamental tenets of democracy. A process that deletes millions of genuine voters under the pretext of removing duplicate or deceased entries cannot be tolerated. We demand the immediate reinstatement of all deleted voters,” said Kumar, one of the lead conveners of the protest.
Heavy security deployment
The Bengaluru city police deployed nearly 900 personnel around Freedom Park to maintain law and order and manage traffic movement along Seshadri Road.
Security was tightened around the protest venue as large numbers of demonstrators gathered for the event.