On Thursday, October 8, slogans like 'Narendra Modi vote chor' were heard from protesters in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on the morning of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and a protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest was organized as a “people’s tribunal” for people who felt affected by the SIR exercise in Karnataka. Women and students, amongst others, gathered at the site and raised slogans calling for the SIR process to be scrapped.
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, actor-activist Prakash Raj, Campaign for Judicial Protection (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and other activists were among those who participated in the demonstration.
“One, two, three, four… Narendra Modi vote chor” slogans echoed through Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on October 8, as protesters gathered against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, actor Prakash Raj, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, and CJP spokesperson Saurav Das were among those who joined the protest.
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Dhruv Rathee, Prakash Raj join protest
Rathee addressed the gathering and questioned the transparency and accountability of the Election Commission. The Indian Express reported that he had not come to the protest for a change of regime and said that there was “zero transparency” and “zero accountability” of the Election Commission.
Prakash Raj also spoke at the protest and called for the SIR exercise to be scrapped. He claimed that the exercise was not only about deleting names from voter lists but rather about the rights and dignity of citizens.
Raj also claimed that CEC Gyanesh Kumar was acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. These were comments made by Raj at the protest and have not been independently verified as fact.
The protesters also demanded that Gyanesh Kumar step down over what they said were irregularities in the electoral roll revision process.
Protesters Raise 'Vote Chor' Slogans
The demonstration saw repeated slogan-shouting against the SIR exercise and the Election Commission.
Posters were at the venue: "Error 404 - Name Not Found", “It’s done bro, resign sir” and “Don’t erase us, hear us”. And slogans such as “Vote theft”, “Dictatorship will not be tolerated” and “Gyanesh Kumar has to quit”.
Among the slogans used by protesters were references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "vote chor". The slogan spoke of the protesters' political criticism and should be understood in that context rather than as a verified factual claim.
The event was billed by the organizers as a platform for people to claim their names have been removed from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise. One Bengaluru resident who spoke to Business Standard said he thought his name had been deleted and questioned how the deletion application was submitted.
'People's Tribunal' followed by Chappal protest.
The Bengaluru gathering was described by the organisers as a “people’s tribunal,” where people who had been affected by SIR could share their experiences.
Organisers also announced a symbolic “Chappal protest” to express solidarity with women. The police had security in place at Freedom Park to prevent any unruly incident during the demonstration.
The Bengaluru protest is part of a wider campaign against the electoral roll revision process. The CJP and allied groups have called for the deletion-related changes to be scrapped and have demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The Election Commission and government have claimed that electoral roll revision is made by identifying and removing duplicate, ineligible or otherwise invalid entries. The claims by protesters about wrongful deletions and the conduct of the SIR process are political and public disputes.
The organizers have also announced more demonstrations to be held, including a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 10.
