Bengaluru lawyers protest SIR, demand CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation

Protests demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar continued in Bengaluru on Tuesday, October 13, despite the detention of several protesters in the city a day earlier.

Lawyers from the Indian Association of Lawyers (IAL) and the All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice (AILAJ) staged a demonstration outside the City Civil Court, protesting against the SIR exercise and condemning the Delhi Police’s action against dissenters.

Rajalakshmi Ankalagi, an advocate based in Bengaluru, said the demonstration was part of a larger effort to defend democratic institutions and constitutional principles. “We know that once he goes, someone takes his place. We know that this will continue,” she said, referring to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. She asserted that the government could not disregard the will of the people.

Muralidhar, national general secretary of the IAL, described the SIR as a “completely bogus exercise”, arguing that it risked becoming a process of excluding voters rather than ensuring the accuracy of electoral rolls. “It is not a special intensive revision but a special exclusion revision,” he said.

One of the key demands raised by the lawyers was the scrapping of Form 7, which allows objections to the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll or requests for its deletion. Muralidhar alleged that Form 7 applications had been printed in bulk at BJP offices in Karnataka and warned that their misuse could lead to eligible voters being removed from the rolls.

The concerns come amid scrutiny of Form 7 applications in Karnataka. According to data released by the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office, the state received 91,278 such applications between June 16 and October 4.

TNM had reported that in Karnataka’s Bhalki and Babaleshwar constituencies, 38 people filed objections against more than 3,750 voters, most of them Muslims, over two days. A follow-up report found 525 additional objections in Bhalki, with 20 people responsible for all but two of the applications.

In Ballari, an FIR was registered over an alleged attempt to delete the names of 7,561 voters. The complaint stated that nearly 98% of those targeted belonged to minority communities.

In Andhra Pradesh, an analysis by TNM of applications filed between September 29 and October 10 found that 40,006 voters had been marked for deletion, with election officials listed as objectors in 20,959 cases. Officials attributed the missing details to a possible issue with the Electoral Roll Online (ERO) Network software. However, former Chief Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa said the software must comply with the rules governing the electoral process.

On October 5, Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar said no voters had been deleted on the basis of these objections so far. He added that each application would be examined through the prescribed process, including issuing a notice and conducting a hearing before deciding whether to delete a name.

Muralidhar also praised young people protesting against the SIR across the country, describing the wave of dissent as a “revolutionisation of consciousness”. “The way in which they (the youth) are understanding the Constitution, the way they are out on the streets asking for their rights, taking on the police force is breathtaking,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and Jagruta Karnataka held a separate protest at Freedom Park on Tuesday.

Student groups, opposition parties and youth organisations across India have been demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation amid reports that two Election Commissioners raised at least 14 formal objections over 10 months to decisions concerning voter registration, deletions and electoral roll management.

Under Gyanesh’s leadership, the SIR has resulted in around 13 crore voter entries being removed from electoral rolls, according to the figures cited by protesters. The protests intensified after demonstrators faced police action, particularly in Delhi, where thousands of people, including lawyers and journalists were assaulted and detained.

This article was written by a student interning with TNM.