Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.rediff.com
Amid escalating protests in Bengaluru, prominent activists including CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and actor-activist Prakash Raj are demanding the immediate scrapping of the electoral roll revision (SIR) exercise and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging a massive voter deletion scam designed to undermine democracy.
IMAGE: Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, actor Prakash Raj, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and others join hands during the party’s protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Freedom Park, in Bengaluru on Thursday. Photograph: ANI Video Grab
Key Points
- CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and actor-activist Prakash Raj protested in Bengaluru, demanding the scrapping of the electoral roll revision (SIR) and CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
- Protestors allege that voter name deletions under the SIR are a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise those opposed to the BJP and undermine democracy.
- Claims were made that 13 crore votes across India and one crore in Karnataka have been deleted, disproportionately affecting tribal people, the poor, Muslims, and other minorities.
- Dhruv Rathee highlighted a lack of transparency and accountability from the Election Commission regarding the SIR exercise, citing instances of voters being removed and later re-added.
- The CJP plans a march to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 10 to continue demanding the scrapping of the SIR exercise and accountability for alleged voter deletions.
The opposition against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) intensified in Bengaluru on Thursday, with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, and actor-activist Prakash Raj joining a protest, demanding the scrapping of the electoral roll revision exercise and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing the protest, described as ‘People’s Tribunal’ and organised by civil society groups and the CJP at the historic Freedom Park, Dipke alleged that voter name deletions under the SIR aimed to disenfranchise those opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the EC of ‘undermining’ democracy.
Allegations of Voter Deletion and Undermining Democracy
Claiming that people whose names had been deleted from the electoral rolls were present at the agitation, Dipke said their presence demonstrated they were alive despite being listed as deceased.
“Narendra Modi became Prime Minister by deleting and stealing votes,” he alleged.
Dipke said, “People who were declared dead are standing here alive. So the death that has taken place is not the death of these people. It is the death of the democracy of this country.”
The CJP founder alleged that Election Commission officials, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, had deleted the votes of people complying with the alleged directions of PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He also claimed that 13 crore votes had been deleted across India and around one crore in Karnataka, stating this figure represented 13 to 14 per cent of the registered vote share.
Such deletions had helped the BJP win states it could not have won even during the peak of the Modi wave.
Call for CEC’s Resignation and Future Protests
Dipke raised slogans targeting CEC Kumar, saying, ‘Now, Gyanu, your turn has come’, to quit, following Dharmendra Pradhan, who stepped down as Union Minister.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideology did not believe in an inclusive India or the philosophies of Dr B R Ambedkar and ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy, and instead it invoked Nathuram Godse, the CJP founder claimed.
“We have to fight against that ideology to save our democracy and to save our country,” Dipke said.
Describing Mahatma Gandhi as the soul of India, Ambedkar as its backbone and Jawaharlal Nehru as its mind, Dipke said the country’s foundation was laid by the three leaders.
He said Modi could not compare himself with them and alleged that he wanted to remain in power longer than Nehru by deleting votes.
He praised Nehru for conducting the first general election in the country and extending voting rights to people who, he said, had neither knowledge of elections nor documents.
Later, addressing a press conference, Dipke asserted that his party would march to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 10 demanding that the SIR exercise be scrapped and accountability fixed for the alleged deletion of names of voters from the electoral rolls.
The CJP leader said the agitation will go ahead even if its leaders are detained or arrested.
Dipke criticised the Centre for restricting public gatherings in the national capital.
“Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India, it does not belong to Union Home Minister Amit Shah,” he said.
“If Mumbai and Bengaluru can have peaceful protests, why is Amit Shah not allowing it in Delhi?” asked the CJP founder.
Concerns Over Transparency and Accountability
“SIR is the biggest scam that the central government, the BJP-ruled government, is pulling off to kill democracy in India,” Dipke said, referring to testimonies of people who had allegedly been declared dead in electoral records despite producing Aadhaar, PAN and other valid documents to establish that they were alive.
Rathee, demanding the CEC’s resignation, alleged that there was ‘zero transparency and zero accountability from the Election Commission’ regarding the SIR exercise.
The YouTuber alleged that ‘vote chori‘ (vote theft) concerned every citizen irrespective of their political affiliation.
Rathee stressed that his participation was not on behalf of any political party and said the issue should concern BJP supporters as well.
Referring to West Bengal, Rathee claimed that around 70,000 voters were removed from the electoral rolls before the Assembly elections and were added after the election results.
“They were real, genuine voters. They were on the electoral rolls before the elections, and they were on the electoral rolls afterwards, but they were not on the rolls at the time of voting,” he claimed.
In Bihar, Rathee claimed around 65 lakh names were removed from the electoral rolls and alleged that the Election Commission did not disclose the names and addresses of those affected until the Supreme Court ordered that the information be made public.
“So until someone tells the Election Commission to disclose such information, it does not reveal anything on its own. There is no transparency. Zero transparency and zero accountability,” he alleged. “That is why I say: ‘vote chor, gaddi chod’. That is why we say that CEC Kumar must resign,” he said.
Actor-activist Prakash Raj demanded scrapping the SIR exercise, alleging it was not merely about deletion of votes, but an attack on the dignity and rights of citizens. He alleged that the names of the tribal people, the poor, Muslims and other minorities had been removed from the electoral rolls.
