KPCC, left parties, unions demand deletions under SIR to be restored

Bengaluru on Saturday (September 26, 2026) saw separate protests by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and by CPI(ML), CPI and other Left parties and unions, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Their other demands included reversing all deletions made under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and scrapping all elections conducted with the revised electorate.

At the KPCC protest, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah argued that an institution expected to conduct elections impartially and transparently was instead functioning at the behest of the BJP-led Union government. He demanded that the President intervene, direct the removal of the CEC and order the registration of a criminal case against him.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also pointed at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated concerns of “vote chori“ and manipulation of electoral rolls. He alleged that Mr. Modi had not come to power through a fair electoral process but through “vote chori”.

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar claimed that Karnataka had seen a case of “vote chori” in Mahadevapura constituency in Bengaluru and the BJP has to now answer for it. “Such instances are leading to erosion of faith in democratic system,” he said, adding that Congress will keep up its protests. KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad alleged that the BJP came to power in no less than six states because of the manner in which SIR was conducted.

In a separate protest, Left party representatives and civic groups said that continuous protests would follow against the SIR and the deletions. The Left parties have planned nationwide protests against the CEC until October 2. 

Arguing that the Election Commission is acting as a “puppet” in the hands of the BJP, they alleged that the Election Commission was fraudulently deleting and adding names to electoral rolls, completely undermining transparency in the revision process. 

Clifton D’Rozario of CPI(ML) raised objections to changes made while the process was under way, including the addition of a declaration and family-linkage requirements to Form-6, the increase in the number of categories and the application of the “logical discrepancy” criteria. He argued that this was the first time the government was deciding who should and would vote, turning democracy into a farce. 

The groups also objected to the law that provides the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from civil and criminal proceedings and demanded that the provision be withdrawn.