A large protest was held at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Thursday, October 8, against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, actor-activist Prakash Raj and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke joining the demonstration. Organised as a “People’s Tribunal”, the protest brought together women, students, activists and people who claimed they had been affected by the voter-roll revision.
Protesters demanded that the SIR exercise be scrapped and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, alleging irregularities and wrongful deletion of eligible voters. Rathee accused the Election Commission of having “zero transparency” and “zero accountability”, while saying he had not come to the protest for “regime change”. Prakash Raj described the mobilisation as a fight to protect democracy and urged citizens to participate.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that the SIR is a legitimate electoral-roll exercise and has denied allegations of arbitrary voter deletion. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar recently said that 58,220 objections had been received through Form 7, but clarified that no voter’s name had been deleted from the draft rolls merely because an objection was filed.
Protesters Raise Concerns
The Freedom Park gathering featured slogans and posters questioning the SIR process and the Election Commission’s handling of voter records. Placards read “Error 404 – Name Not Found”, “Don’t erase us, hear us” and “It’s done bro, resign sir”, while others accused the authorities of “vote theft” and warned that “dictatorship will not be tolerated”. Protesters also displayed posters featuring freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, alongside the phrase “Grand Theft Democracy”.
The People’s Tribunal was presented by organisers as a platform where people from across Karnataka who claimed to have been affected by SIR could share their experiences. CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka said the group intended to interact with Kannadigas who had allegedly been removed from electoral rolls. One attendee, Bengaluru-based software engineer Mujibur Rehman, claimed his name had been removed from the electoral roll without his knowledge and questioned who had submitted the Form 7 application seeking its deletion. His account was presented as an individual allegation rather than an independently established finding.
Rathee, addressing the gathering, said his participation was not aimed at changing the government. He instead focused his criticism on the Election Commission, alleging a lack of transparency and accountability. Prakash Raj similarly urged citizens to join what he described as a fight to “save our democracy”. The actor-activist has also called for the SIR exercise to be scrapped and demanded Kumar’s removal. These claims and demands remain contested by the Election Commission and should be distinguished from established findings.
SIR Debate Deepens
The Bengaluru protest comes amid a wider national dispute over the SIR exercise and allegations that eligible voters could be excluded from electoral rolls. The controversy has intensified in Karnataka following complaints about bulk submissions of Form 7, the form used to request deletion of a name from an electoral roll. Karnataka CEO V Anbukkumar said authorities had received 58,220 such objections but clarified that filing an objection did not itself result in deletion from the draft roll. He said electoral registration officers would examine complaints and take action according to law.
The Election Commission’s own voter-services portal lists SIR 2026 services, including searching names in the previous SIR roll and submitting documents in response to notices. Its published schedule shows Karnataka among the states covered in the current phase, with the draft electoral roll scheduled for September 20 and the claims-and-objections period running until October 20; the final electoral roll is scheduled for November 22.
The dispute has also moved into the legal and political arena. The Supreme Court has recently sought clarification over allegations concerning decision-making within the Election Commission, warning that decisions not made in accordance with the law could be invalidated. Meanwhile, opposition parties and youth-led groups have continued protests demanding changes to the SIR process and Kumar’s resignation. The Election Commission and the BJP have rejected allegations that the voter-roll exercise is designed to manipulate elections, maintaining that the revision is intended to identify and address invalid or duplicate entries.
The Bengaluru protest was also linked to a separate “Chappal Protest” announced by CJP, described by organisers as an expression of solidarity with women. Police said security arrangements had been strengthened at Freedom Park to prevent any untoward incident. The organisers have indicated that their agitation will continue, including further mobilisation in Delhi.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The right to vote is central to a healthy democracy, and concerns about voter-list accuracy deserve to be heard seriously and addressed transparently. At the same time, allegations of wrongful deletion, political interference or electoral manipulation must be investigated through evidence, due process and independent scrutiny rather than allowing public debate to descend into hostility.
Election authorities have a responsibility to explain the SIR process clearly, while political groups and civil society must ensure that protests remain peaceful and respectful. The strongest democratic response to disagreement is not intimidation or division, but transparency, accountability and dialogue. As the SIR debate continues, how can citizens, political organisations and election authorities work together to protect both the integrity of electoral rolls and every eligible voter’s right to participate?
Also Read: Meet ‘Dehati Madam’ Yashoda, Whose Self-Taught English Caught Priyanka Chopra’s Attention
