CJP holds anti-SIR protest and tribunal in Bengaluru

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a protest and public tribunal at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on October 8 against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with actor Prakash Raj and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee taking part. Organisers said the tribunal would hear accounts from people they believe were wrongly removed from voter lists, but the reports do not independently verify individual cases of wrongful deletion. The gathering brought together CJP leaders, activists and other participants. Rathee and Raj joined the mobilisation, which followed announcements that both would attend. CJP had also planned a chappal protest as part of the programme. The organisation said the tribunal would give people from Karnataka an opportunity to describe their experiences of the electoral-roll revision. CJP and participants allege that eligible voters have been wrongly excluded during SIR. Those allegations remain unverified in the material available about the event. A figure cited in one account, drawn from Karnataka’s draft roll, refers to more than 1.08 crore entries classified as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate and other categories.