New Delhi: An umbrella alliance of civil society organisations, student unions, farmers' groups and minority bodies, under the banner 'People Against SIR', has announced a nationwide protest march on October 23 against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Organisers said the decision to hold the march was taken after a joint meeting on October 14, and follows allegations of manipulation of the electoral process. The key demands include the removal and prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, scrapping the SIR voter rolls, restoration of deleted voter names, repealing the Election Commissioners Act 2023 that gives legal immunity to election commissioners, appointing a new election commission through fair means, and a return to voting by ballot paper.
The organisers also denounced the Delhi Police move to denotify Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and the arrest of activists. "Let every patriot join the march and wield the tricolour, and let every Indian street become a replica of Jantar Mantar," the call said.
The alliance includes actor-activist Prakash Raj, senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan, economist Parakala Prabhakar, farmers' leader Rakesh Tikait, RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj, literary critic Ganesh Devy, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and AISA president Neha Bora. A meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, is also expected to discuss the protest roadmap.
The protest comes amid weeks of allegations and counter-allegations over the Election Commission's working and the voter rolls. The alliance says the SIR exercise has excluded many genuine voters. Similar demonstrations have been held across the country, and opposition leaders had earlier marched to the Supreme Court on the issue. Political circles are watching the October 23 march closely, especially since organisers have not sought police permission for it.