Bengaluru, October 8, 2026: The political temperature in Bengaluru rose on Thursday as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) held a protest at Freedom Park against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with actor-activist Prakash Raj, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke joining the demonstration.

The Bengaluru CJP protest was organised around a People’s Tribunal on SIR, where people who claimed to have been affected by changes to the electoral rolls were expected to share their experiences. The tribunal was followed by the much-publicised “Chappal protest”, which organisers said was also intended to express solidarity with women journalists who have alleged sexual harassment by a Delhi Police officer.

The Bengaluru mobilisation comes just two days before the CJP's planned October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, turning Thursday's gathering into an important part of a wider campaign focused on the Election Commission, voter rolls and the SIR exercise.

CJP Bengaluru protest: What happened at Freedom Park?

The programme at Freedom Park began with the People’s Tribunal, with organisers inviting people from across Karnataka who said they had been affected by the SIR process. Protesters subsequently raised slogans demanding that the electoral roll revision be withdrawn and that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign.

Several posters at the venue reflected the protesters’ anger over alleged voter deletions. Messages included slogans such as “Error 404 - Name Not Found”, “Don't erase us, hear us” and “Vote theft”. Other posters accused the Election Commission of undermining democracy and demanded that Kumar leave office.

Police maintained security at the venue to prevent any untoward incident.

The demonstration was led by prominent faces including Prakash Raj, Dhruv Rathee and Abhijeet Dipke, while women, students and other supporters also gathered at Freedom Park.

The presence of Rathee added considerable attention to the Bengaluru CJP protest. The YouTuber had urged people to attend the demonstration and described the campaign as a fight to protect democracy. Prakash Raj, who has also been vocal about the SIR controversy, joined the mobilisation and made a cinematic reference to his Singham role while targeting Gyanesh Kumar.

Why is CJP protesting against SIR?

At the centre of the CJP Bengaluru protest is the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, or SIR.

The organisation and its supporters have alleged that the exercise has resulted in legitimate voters being removed from electoral lists. They argue that deleting eligible voters could affect their ability to participate in elections and therefore raise serious concerns about voting rights.

CJP has demanded that the SIR exercise be scrapped and that electoral rolls existing before the revision be restored. The organisation has also called for an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities and demanded the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar.

However, the allegations made by the protesters remain part of the political dispute surrounding the electoral roll revision and should not be treated as independently established findings.

The issue has nevertheless gained momentum because of concerns raised by individuals who say their names have disappeared from voter lists. The Bengaluru People’s Tribunal was intended to provide a platform for such people to publicly recount their experiences.

Prakash Raj's warning to Gyanesh Kumar

Prakash Raj emerged as one of the most visible faces at the CJP Chappal protest in Bengaluru.

The actor-activist has repeatedly criticised the SIR process and urged citizens, students, civil society groups and affected voters to participate in the agitation. At the Bengaluru protest, he argued that the controversy was about more than individual names being removed from electoral rolls.

According to Raj, the issue concerned citizens' dignity and their fundamental right to vote. He also stressed that simply replacing the Chief Election Commissioner would not resolve the protesters' concerns.

“If Kumar goes, another person may come in his place,” was the thrust of Raj’s argument, as he insisted that the demand was for the complete withdrawal of SIR, rather than merely the resignation of one official.

Ahead of the protest, Raj also used a famous Singham-style line aimed at Gyanesh Kumar, adding a dramatic Bollywood touch to an otherwise politically charged demonstration.

Dhruv Rathee joins CJP protest in Bengaluru

The arrival of Dhruv Rathee at the Bengaluru CJP protest significantly increased attention around the event.

Rathee appeared alongside CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and urged people to gather at Freedom Park. He described the agitation as a fight to protect democracy and also encouraged supporters in Delhi to attend the larger CJP protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10.

During the Bengaluru protest, Rathee criticised what he described as a lack of transparency and accountability surrounding the SIR exercise. He also clarified that his participation was not about regime change, framing his presence instead around concerns over the electoral process.

His participation, along with that of Prakash Raj, has given the CJP campaign a much broader public profile beyond its core organisational base.

What are CJP's key demands?

The CJP campaign has articulated several demands connected to the SIR controversy.

The first is the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has gone further by demanding legal action against Kumar over what the organisation alleges are irregularities in the electoral revision process.

The second major demand is that the SIR exercise be stopped or scrapped, with protesters seeking restoration of earlier electoral rolls.

The third concerns the process through which Election Commissioners are appointed. CJP has called for an independent and neutral appointment mechanism, arguing that the Election Commission should function without political influence.

The campaign has also called for an independent investigation into alleged electoral irregularities.

CJP's controversial voter-deletion claims

One of the most serious claims made by CJP concerns the scale of alleged voter deletions.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das has alleged that millions of names were removed from electoral rolls during the SIR process. He cited a settlement in Delhi's Chandni Chowk constituency as an example, claiming that 908 of 909 voters in the locality had been deleted.

The organisation has also made a much broader claim involving more than 13 crore alleged voter deletions nationwide. These figures have been presented by CJP as evidence of what it describes as mass disenfranchisement.

Such claims are central to the protest narrative but remain allegations made by the organisers. Their accuracy and the reasons behind individual changes to electoral rolls are matters that require verification through official records and independent scrutiny.

Bengaluru protest is a prelude to October 10 Jantar Mantar stir

The CJP Bengaluru protest on October 8 is not being viewed by organisers as a standalone demonstration.

It comes ahead of the much larger October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, where CJP plans to intensify its campaign against SIR and demand action over alleged electoral irregularities.

Student organisations, youth groups and civil society organisations are expected to participate in the wider mobilisation. The campaign has also attracted attention amid separate demonstrations by opposition parties over the Election Commission and Gyanesh Kumar.

CJP leaders have indicated that the movement could continue even if the Chief Election Commissioner resigns, arguing that their larger objective is electoral reform and greater transparency in the functioning of the election machinery.

Why the Bengaluru CJP protest matters

The Freedom Park demonstration comes at a time when electoral roll revisions have become a major political flashpoint.

For the protesters, the issue is fundamentally about whether every eligible citizen can retain their place on the electoral roll and exercise the right to vote. For the Election Commission and authorities, electoral roll revision is part of the process of maintaining accurate voter lists.

That competing narrative has transformed SIR from an administrative exercise into a highly political national debate.

The participation of high-profile figures such as Dhruv Rathee and Prakash Raj has further amplified the issue on social media and among younger audiences. Meanwhile, the presence of students, women and alleged SIR-affected voters has given the Bengaluru protest a broader civil-society character.

As the CJP moves from Bengaluru's Freedom Park to Jantar Mantar in Delhi, the focus will now shift to whether the October 10 demonstration can turn the organisation's campaign into a larger national movement.

For now, the message from Freedom Park was clear: the protesters want the SIR exercise scrapped, alleged voter deletions examined, electoral rolls restored and Gyanesh Kumar to resign. Whether the agitation can force any institutional response remains to be seen, but the Bengaluru protest has ensured that the controversy over electoral rolls and voting rights remains firmly in the national spotlight.

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