Nationwide anti-SIR stir planned in 88 cities
NEW DELHI, Oct 23: Thousands of protesters, drawn from farmers’ groups, trade unions, student organisations and Left parties, marched towards the Election Commission headquarters on Friday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the scrapping of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Delhi Police detained more than 100 demonstrators after they attempted to breach multi-layered barricades near Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, a few hundred metres from the ECI office on Ashoka Road.
Carrying the Tricolour and banners reading “Scrap SIR”, “Vote Chori” and “No elections with SIR”, the marchers shouted slogans against the poll panel chief. Some climbed a tree to wave the national flag while AISA activists held satirical placards targeting Kumar.
The procession, organised by the Delhi Coordination Committee of People Against SIR, began near Gole Dak Khana and drew participants from Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. When police blocked further advance, the protesters sat down and convened a “People’s Parliament”. Visuals of students being bundled into buses while still holding the Indian flag circulated widely on social media by evening.
Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, AIDWA and AIDSO members, and activists from KYS and SFI joined the march. Restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were in force, with large contingents of Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force deployed across central Delhi.
“They have deleted millions of votes through SIR. They are denouncing the citizenship of millions who have lived in India for generations, especially minorities like Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis,” said Disha of the Progressive Democratic Students Union.
CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Sandosh Kumar said the agitation would intensify. “The agitation will continue. Gyanesh Kumar must resign; no one can save him. We will intensify our movement in the coming days.”
Organisers said the campaign has drawn more than 300 organisations. Demonstrations are planned in 88 cities across 18 states from Friday until November 1, involving 145 groups. The broader demand includes restoration of voting rights to those whose names have been deleted and the removal and prosecution of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The protest forms part of a wider mobilisation by opposition parties, student bodies, farmers’ organisations and civil society groups against the electoral roll revision exercise. (Agencies)