India Bloc staged a mock arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Bengaluru on Wednesday, demanding his resignation over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
The protest, organized by Congress, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc and Samajwadi Party along with student and youth groups, saw party workers theatrically handcuffing a mannequin draped in the CEC’s flag, simulating Kumar’s detention. The staged arrest was captured on camera and spread across social media, with hashtags trending for the first time in months.
SIR, an audit of voter rolls conducted in 2024, has been criticized for purportedly purging legitimate voters and favoring certain parties. The INDIA bloc has cited the exercise as evidence of systemic manipulation, arguing that the purge disproportionately affected opposition strongholds in Karnataka. Previous protests in Delhi at Ramlila Maidan on November 1 echoed the same demands.
Karnataka leaders joined the rally: Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC President B. K. Hariprasad all delivered speeches calling for immediate resignation. The Election Commission, however, maintains that SIR was a routine procedure aimed at enhancing electoral integrity. Ahead of the next statewide rally in Chennai, the bloc plans to file a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the SIR exercise.