Nationwide Anti-SIR Protests Planned on Friday
Farmers, trade unions and civil society groups to stage marches over alleged electoral roll irregularities.
New Delhi: An alliance of civil society groups, farmers' organisations, trade unions and student bodies will hold nationwide protests on Friday against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the exercise.
The protests, organised under the banner People Against SIR, are expected to draw economist Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, actor-activist Prakash Raj, advocate Prashant Bhushan, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and author Tushar Gandhi.
Student leaders Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh, along with leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, are also among those invited to participate.
The alliance has appealed to the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc to support the agitation.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha and trade unions are also planning joint marches across states, demanding the withdrawal of the electoral roll revision exercise.
The platform, formed at a meeting in New Delhi earlier this month, has called the campaign "The People's March to Reclaim Democracy", with the slogan "Har Gali Jantar Mantar, Har Gaon Jantar Mantar, Mera Ghar Jantar Mantar".
In Delhi, protesters plan to march from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara in Connaught Place to the Election Commission's office near Patel Chowk.
Organisers said that if police blocked the march, demonstrators would hold a "People's Parliament" before dispersing after singing the national anthem.
The alliance has termed the SIR exercise illegal and demanded that electoral rolls be restored to their pre-2024 version.