CJP Announces Chappal Protest in Bengaluru, Prakash Raj to Join
Protest to follow People’s Tribunal on SIR at Freedom Park on October 8
Bengaluru: The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has announced a “Chappal Protest” in Bengaluru on Thursday, October 8, with actor and activist Prakash Raj expected to join the demonstration at Freedom Park.
The programme will begin at 10:30 AM with a People’s Tribunal on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The tribunal is being organised by civil society groups from across Karnataka to hear from people who claim their names were wrongly removed from the voters’ list.
CJP co convener Ashutosh Ranka announced the programme and said the Chappal Protest would be held after the tribunal in solidarity with women journalists who have alleged sexual harassment by a Delhi Police officer during a protest at Jantar Mantar.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, spokesperson Saurav Das and Ranka are expected to participate in the programme along with Prakash Raj and representatives of youth and civil society organisations.
Prakash Raj has also urged people to attend the event at Freedom Park. In a social media post, he said people affected by the SIR exercise from different parts of Karnataka would be present at the tribunal and called on citizens to participate in the protest.
The civil society groups organising the tribunal have raised concerns over alleged deletions from electoral rolls during the SIR process. They are demanding that the deletions be reviewed and that the electoral rolls existing before the revision be retained. They have also called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in the electoral process.
The Bengaluru programme comes amid a wider campaign by CJP and other groups over the SIR exercise. The organisation has also announced a separate protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 10.
The October 8 programme at Freedom Park is therefore expected to bring together people who have raised concerns about their voter records, civil society representatives and CJP supporters, with the organisers calling for public participation.