‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod’ slogan trends as thousands turn up for anti-SIR stir

Published - October 09, 2026 01:14 am IST - Bengaluru

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, actor-activist Prakash Raj and others during the 'people's tribunal’ protest in Bengaluru on Thursday.

“When I landed here in Bengaluru yesterday, I saw social media posts claiming that Dhruv Rathee is coming to change the regime. I am not here to change the regime, neither has Soros funded this trip. I have come here to support this fight against vote theft,” said YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, who was in Bengaluru for his “first protest” against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which has so far led to deletions of 13 crore names at the draft stage.

Amid a sea of yellow-red Karnataka flags and national flags and shouts of “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chod”, thousands of people turned up for the protest at the Freedom Park, including hundreds whose names had been marked as absent, shifted or dead, as well as people who came to show that they were “eligible voters” and did not want their names deleted, as sought by others through Form 7.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be thinking I have a problem with him, but he should know that now the entire nation has a problem with him. This is not about any party, it is about the ‘Right to Vote.’ Still, BJP voters are not convinced by the claims of vote theft,” said Mr. Rathee.

“I have three questions. Modi, Shah or Gyanesh Kumar can answer to dismiss claims of “vote chori” — How were over 75 lakh people removed before the West Bengal elections and then added soon after the elections? These people were on the rolls before the elections and after the elections, but not during the election. Why were these people added back? What happened in Bihar? Over 40 lakh names were deleted, but Gyanesh Kumar did not say a word until the Supreme Court directed that these names be made public. In U.P., over 14 lakh names were ‘added’ suddenly. Who are these people? While in Goa, even though EROs wanted to add names, the ECI did not allow it,” he alleged.

Mr. Rathee was joined by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke and spokespersons Saurav Das and Aushotosh Ranka.

Mr. Dipke alleged that Mr. Modi “did vote chori and won”. “People who are alive are being declared dead during the SIR. Mr. Modi has murdered democracy as the Election Commission of India conducted this exercise on the orders of Modi-Shah. Modi wants to have ownership over the people - One Nation, One Election is One Nation, One Party,” he alleged.

Gandhi, Ambedkar and Nehru

“Mahatma Gandhi is the soul of India, Ambedkar is the backbone and Nehru is the mind. Nehru gave voting rights to people who did not even know the meaning of electoral democracy or voting rights. But Mr. Modi is making people prove why their name should not be removed,” Mr. Dipke said, pointing out that even in the South, through delimitation, attempts are being made to limit participation, but “South Indian States will lead the country in the future.”

The protesters were also joined by former Supreme Court judge V. Gopala Gowda, actor Prakash Raj and writer Devanuru Mahadeva.

Nobody on earth can stop this agitation

Mr. Gowda said, “As a former Supreme Court judge, I am here to extend solidarity. I do not agree with the Supreme Court judgment on SIR. It is unconstitutional. Democracy is butchered and people will teach a lesson to those at the helm. Nobody on this earth can stop this agitation.”

Calling SIR an insult to every citizen of this country, actor Mr. Raj said, “The aim of the protest is not just to remove Gyanesh Kumar alone. He will go and another Agyanesh Kumar will come in the Election Commission. The aim is to scrap SIR and file a case against Gyanesh Kumar. Until then, the agitation will not stop.”

Published - October 09, 2026 01:14 am IST

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