BENGALURU | Actor-activist Prakash Raj, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke joined a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Thursday against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with protesters demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The protest was organised as a “people’s tribunal” for those whom organisers said had been affected by the SIR exercise in Karnataka. A large number of protesters, including women and students, gathered at the venue and raised slogans demanding that the revision exercise be scrapped.

Organisers also announced a proposed “Chappal protest” in solidarity with women.

Dipke alleged that voter deletions under the SIR exercise were aimed at disenfranchising people opposed to the BJP. He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of undermining democratic processes and said the protests would continue until Kumar resigned.

Rathee, meanwhile, focused on electoral-roll changes in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Goa. He said the issue should be viewed in terms of citizens’ voting rights rather than political affiliations.

Addressing the gathering, Rathee urged BJP supporters to consider the issue as one affecting their own right to vote. He questioned the deletion and subsequent restoration of around 70 lakh names in West Bengal, asking why the names were removed ahead of the elections and later restored.

He also questioned the deletion of more than 40 lakh names in Bihar and raised concerns over the disclosure of the names only after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to make the information public.

In Uttar Pradesh, Rathee questioned the addition of more than 14 lakh names to the electoral rolls and sought clarification on the identity of the newly enrolled voters. He also raised questions over electoral registration procedures in Goa. “These are my three claims and questions,” Rathee said while referring to developments in the four states.

Rathee said the protest was not aimed at supporting any political party but at defending citizens’ voting rights. He described those participating in the demonstration as “the biggest nationalists”.

Posters at Freedom Park carried slogans such as “Error 404 – Name Not Found”, “Don’t erase us, hear us”, “Vote theft” and “Gyanesh Kumar, gaddi leave your chair”. Posters featuring freedom fighters Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose were also displayed.

Police said security arrangements had been strengthened at the venue to prevent any untoward incident.

The Bengaluru protest came amid continuing opposition to the SIR exercise and demands for action against the Chief Election Commissioner. INDIA bloc MPs held a separate protest in Delhi on Wednesday, during which several MPs, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were detained while attempting to reach Jantar Mantar.

Separately, the Indian Youth Congress has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the police refusal to permit its proposed protest at Jantar Mantar against Kumar. The matter is scheduled to be heard on Friday.

Two fresh FIRs have also been registered against Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in connection with Wednesday’s INDIA bloc protest in central Delhi.