SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Voters who say they were wrongly struck off Karnataka’s electoral rolls will get a public hearing at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Thursday, October 8, with actor Prakash Raj and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee among those backing them.
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is organising the People’s Tribunal on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It begins at 10:30 am under the slogan “Save Our Votes, Save Democracy”, and a “chappal protest” will follow.
Raj, a vocal critic of the SIR, announced the event on social media on Wednesday, October 7. In a video, he described Rathee as the “special guest” and said it would be the YouTuber’s first visit to Bengaluru in support of the “scrap SIR” campaign. Rathee later confirmed his participation in a video on X.
“Victims of SIR from across the state will be present,” Raj said in his post, naming CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, co-convener Ashutosh Ranka, spokesperson Saurav Das, youth organisations and civil society groups. He urged citizens to join “this fight to save our democracy”. Student leader Aishe Ghosh and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora are also expected to speak.
Dipke said on Wednesday that he had reached Bengaluru, and revealed Rathee’s presence in the city in a video message.
Protest over journalists’ harassment claims
The chappal protest is being held in solidarity with three women journalists who alleged sexual harassment by Delhi Police officers during a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 3. Delhi Police has said the allegations are being looked into. Dipke has demanded that the accused officer be arrested.
The CJP is also demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Dipke has said the group could march to Jantar Mantar on October 10 if he does not step down.
The numbers behind the anger
The draft electoral roll released after the SIR in Karnataka recorded more than 1.08 crore entries under the absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and other categories, according to a report by South Matters. The figure does not mean all those voters were wrongly deleted.
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed on September 24 that about 13 crore names, including 1.43 crore in Karnataka, had been removed from electoral rolls across 19 states since June 2025.
The CJP began in May as a youth-led satirical online movement. It has since taken to the streets, and its protests against the Election Commission have grown over the past week.
SOURCE : SIASAT
