CJP to Hold People's Tribunal and 'Chappal Protest' in Bengaluru Over SIR; Prakash Raj, Dhruv Rathee to Participate

Bengaluru: The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) will organise a people's tribunal in Bengaluru to protest irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The organisation has also announced a 'Chappal Protest' at Freedom Park. The protest will begin at 10.30 am on Thursday, following the people's tribunal.

CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranga said the Chappal Protest would highlight the issue of people who were unfairly removed from the electoral rolls through the SIR process. CJP said all those removed from the voter lists in Karnataka would gather at Freedom Park.

Actor Prakash Raj and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee will participate in the protest at Freedom Park. Both arrived in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Rathee had shared a video saying he had come from Germany to take part in the people's movement. He has repeatedly highlighted the corruption and anti-people policies of the BJP government led by Narendra Modi.

The protest is being held with demands including the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, an independent inquiry into the SIR process, restoration of the electoral rolls from January 2025 and a halt to the voter-list revision process. CJP said the agitation would continue even if Gyanesh Kumar resigns and called for wider electoral reforms.

Left youth organisations are also organising another protest on October 10, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over what they describe as attempts to undermine the country's electoral process. The organisations said the protest was being organised to strengthen the democratic movement.

In a joint statement, DYFI, AIYF, RYA, RYF, AIDYO and AIYL said they would mobilise the maximum number of activists for the October 10 protest.