INDIA Bloc to protest against SIR, CEC Gyanesh Kumar in Bengaluru on November 5

The INDIA Bloc parties in Karnataka will stage a large protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on November 5, targeting alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President and MLC B.K. Hariprasad announced this on Tuesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference of INDIA Bloc leaders at the KPCC office, Hariprasad said the Bengaluru event would carry forward the demonstration the alliance held at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on November 1, which also raised the alleged SIR irregularities and Kumar.

He said the bloc's leaders had agreed in Delhi to take the agitation to taluk and block levels across the country.

In Karnataka, they have decided to open with a state-level protest in Bengaluru, to be followed by demonstrations in districts and taluks.

Hariprasad alleged that the BJP and the RSS were attempting to undermine the democratic system by misusing constitutional institutions.

He said the agitation would continue until Gyanesh Kumar resigned.

CPI(M) state secretary K. Prakash said the alliance was demanding the scrapping of the SIR process, the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and democratisation of the process of appointing the Chief Election Commissioner.

He said the appointment process should be conducted in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court and demanded the withdrawal of the law granting permanent immunity to the Chief Election Commissioner.

Prakash said the INDIA Bloc had decided to intensify and decentralise the agitation across Karnataka after the November 5 protest.

He said all alliance parties would participate in the demonstration, adding that the responsibility of protecting democracy rested with them.

He further said the INDIA Bloc intended to send a message that there was no place in the country for the BJP's alleged attempts to turn India into an authoritarian state and establish a communal nation.

CPI(M) leader Sathi Sundaresh, Forward Bloc's Mahantesh and Shivashankar, Ali, CPI(ML) leader Clifton D'Rozario and KPCC Media and Communications Department Chairman Ramesh Babu were present at the press conference.