INDIA bloc stages dramatic mock arrest of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over SIR row

NEW DELHI: The INDIA bloc on Wednesday held a state-level protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, demanding the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.Video footage from the rally showed party workers enacting the arrest of Gyanesh Kumar as part of the demonstration.The protest, which began at 11 am and was scheduled to continue until 2 pm, was organised by the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc and Samajwadi Party, along with other progressive parties, social organisations and student and youth groups involved in the anti-SIR agitation.The demonstration was presided over by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President BK Hariprasad.Multilingual film actor Prakash Raj, CPI(M) state secretary Prakash K, CPI state secretary Sathi Sundaresh, CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Clifton D’Rozario, Forward Bloc president JR Shivashankar and Samajwadi Party president N Manjappa also participated in the protest.Representatives of various organisations, including Sarvodaya Karnataka, Eddelu Karnataka, the Federation of Dalit Organisations and the Republican Party of India, attended the rally. Police personnel were deployed in adequate numbers at Freedom Park to maintain security and manage the gathering.The protest was held as part of the INDIA bloc’s wider agitation against the SIR exercise and its demand for the CEC’s resignation. It follows a demonstration organised by the opposition alliance at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1.On Wednesday, Hariprasad said the Bengaluru rally was a continuation of the November 1 protest and that leaders of several INDIA bloc parties had agreed to participate.

“In continuation of the protest we had on November 1, the entire INDIA bloc alliance is organising a massive protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru. All our CPI(M), Forward Bloc, Samajwadi Party… and Muslim League leaders have agreed to participate in this,” Hariprasad said.He also said the agitation would be extended to districts across Karnataka, with party units asked to organise simultaneous demonstrations at the block level.“This protest will continue in Karnataka in almost all districts at the block level. Tomorrow, we have requested all our district units to simultaneously hold protests against SIR and Gyanesh Kumar and demand his resignation,” he said.