NEW DELHI, OCT 18 (AGENCIES): People Against SIR (PAS) on Sunday called for nationwide marches on October 23, demanding Parliament impeach Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, scrap the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and restore voting rights to all eligible citizens.
In a statement, the platform alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had misused the Election Commission (EC), claiming 13.41 crore citizens had lost voting rights through the SIR. It accused Kumar of changing statutory forms, including Form 6, without parliamentary approval, to remove genuine citizens from electoral rolls and keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power.
“Without Parliament impeaching CEC Gyanesh Kumar, the Prime Minister cannot come out of the full-blown constitutional standoff,” the statement said. PAS accused Kumar of violating his constitutional pledge and demanded his prosecution, arguing that Parliament alone had the power to change the rules governing the process.
Formed on October 14 at Surjeet Bhavan in New Delhi, PAS is an all-India platform bringing together organisations representing farmers, workers, women, youth, students, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities.
Calling the October 23 mobilisation the “People’s March to Reclaim Democracy”, the platform said it would launch a united struggle until the SIR was scrapped, voting rights restored to all eligible citizens and the Election Commissioners Act, 2023, amended. It urged citizens to join marches carrying the national flag at district and tehsil headquarters, state capitals and the national capital. Its key slogans were: “Scrap Illegal SIR! Remove and Prosecute Gyanesh! Reset Our Voter List!” PAS said that if police stopped protesters, they would hold “People’s Parliament” gatherings demanding electoral reforms, including proportional representation, curbs on money and muscle power, and legalisation of state funding of elections. The gatherings would conclude with a pledge to protect democratic rights and a rendition of the national anthem.
The platform criticised the denotification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site in Delhi and demanded withdrawal of the order.
It also accused Delhi Police of sexually harassing female protesters and journalists and unlawfully placing people under house arrest.
PAS said the march would bring together mass and class organisations and civil-society platforms, including farmers, workers, daily-wage earners, traders, journalists, lawyers, teachers, employees, artists, women, youth, students, Adivasis, Dalits and minorities.
When formed, the platform rejected attempts to modify or “fix” the SIR, demanding its rejection and annulment, Kumar’s removal and prosecution, restoration of voter lists to their pre-2024 versions, and public audits of electoral rolls. It said the October 23 nationwide protests would be its first action and that the struggle would continue until democracy and eligible citizens’ voting rights were restored.
The coalition, which included actor-activist Prakash Raj, Kisan Sabha leader P Krishnaprasad and CPI(ML)L leader N Sai Balaji, said the ‘People’s March’ will not request police permission anywhere while “strictly warning” police, paramilitary and prisons against using the “brute state force” against peaceful protesters.
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