BENGALURU: “Attempts are being made to destroy India’s institutions. The slogan of one nation, one election was intended to be one nation, one party. That was Hitler’s intention too. I want to ask Modi to see what happened to Hitler: He had to shoot himself,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said at an anti-SIR protest in Bengaluru.Dipke alleged that voter deletions under the SIR were aimed at disenfranchising those opposed to the BJP and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of “undermining” democracy.Speaking at the “People’s Tribunal”, organised by various civil society groups in Bengaluru and attended by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and actor-activist Prakash Raj, Dipke said people whose names had allegedly been deleted from electoral rolls were present at the event to demonstrate that they were alive.“Narendra Modi became Prime Minister by deleting and stealing votes,” he charged.The protest, organised by the Anti-SIR Alliance at the parking lot of Freedom Park, saw at least 5,000 students flock to the venue by noon, carrying placards and raising slogans demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Students also sang and danced in protest. By evening, the “Chappal protest” was accompanied by “azadi” slogans, which had previously landed JNU students in trouble.During his impassioned speech, Dipke said Gandhi was the “soul of India”, Ambedkar the “backbone” and Nehru the “mind”, and that the three had laid the foundation of India.“Even though the ‘56-inch chest’ tries, he can never compete with them,” Dipke said.He juxtaposed Nehru, who held elections in 1951 even when people did not know what voting rights were and had no documents to show, with the current Prime Minister, Modi, whom he accused of indulging in “vote chori”.The CJP founder said the margin between the BJP and the Opposition in the 2024 general elections was 2%. He alleged that the BJP realised Modi was losing relevance and “came up with a plan to delete votes”, disenfranchising 14 per cent of voters.“Are you ready to hit the streets?” Dipke asked, drawing cheers from the crowd.He called on “cockroaches” to be resilient and fight back against what he described as Modi’s dictatorial practices.“It is only when the country remains will your vote remain,” he said.“He (Modi) might have power, but the streets belong to us and we will reclaim the democracy of India,” Dipke said, adding that “Gyanu” would be the second wicket after Dharmendra Pradhan. He said this would thwart the targeted under-representation of South India in Parliament through delimitation.“The South will lead India into the future, in the fight to save democracy,” he said, to echoes of “Gyanu, it’s done bro”.The protest is also a precursor to “Chalo Delhi” on October 10, demanding Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.Former JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh called on the youth to join and fight unitedly. She said Gyanesh was a front for the BJP to steal votes and that Gen Z would not let it happen.Former Supreme Court judge Gopal Gowda sought 10 minutes of the crowd’s attention amid the charged atmosphere.YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, whose presence drew many visitors, said it was his first protest and visit to Bengaluru. He said he was not there to demand a “regime change”, as the BJP claims, “nor am I funded by Soros or Musk”.He invited BJP voters to support the cause if they believed every citizen had a right to vote.“BJP voters don’t believe that vote theft is real. What about the 70,000 voters who were knocked off the rolls before West Bengal elections and added after, only to be stripped off during voting in the state? These were not dead people or intruders, but genuine voters who lost their voting right. Bihar witnessed 75 lakh voter deletions, with zero transparency in the process, up until the Supreme Court pulled the EC up. Uttar Pradesh had 14 lakh additions without the ECI revealing who was added or knocked off the rolls. Goa had an issue with software and voters could not be added during their SIR,” he said.“Gyanesh has to resign,” he said, labelling the protesting students as “true patriots” and those defending Gyanesh as “anti-nationals” amid what he described as attempts at disenfranchisement.Voters from different districts who said they had faced deletion attempts were present at the protest.Actor Prakash Raj said a large proportion of those being disenfranchised were from marginalised communities.Youth erupted into cheers when Dhruv Rathee turned towards them and waved, even as video testimonials from voters who said they had been disenfranchised were being played.
