Summary: YouTuber Dhruv Rathee took part in a protest in Bengaluru against alleged mass deletions from voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). He demanded answers from the Narendra Modi-led government and called for the dismissal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Prominent activists, politicians, and citizens also joined the protest, emphasizing concerns over voter disenfranchisement and calling for further actions.
Dhruv Rathee Speaks at Bengaluru Protest
YouTuber Dhruv Rathee made a significant impact at his first protest in Bengaluru on Thursday. He called on the Narendra Modi government to answer allegations of large-scale voter deletions during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Clarifying he was not seeking a regime change but answers on the SIR process, Rathee joined anti-SIR protesters at Freedom Park along with actor-activist Prakash Raj, Justice (Retd) Gopal Gowda, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijit Dipke, thinker Devanoor Mahadeva, and two Congress legislators, Naseer Ahmed and B.R. Patil.
Claims of Voter Deletions and Disenfranchisement
Addressing the crowd, Rathee said, “I have just three questions,” claiming that 70,000 voters were deleted and later restored in West Bengal; 65 lakh deleted in Bihar; and 14 lakh new voters added in Uttar Pradesh during poll preparations. He stressed that this mass disenfranchisement affects all sections of society, regardless of political alignment.
He labeled supporters of Gyanesh Kumar as traitors and praised the protesters as true patriots.
Protest Highlights and Future Plans
Rathee’s protest video with the caption ‘Hello @narendramodi, India has a message for you’ and chants of ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chor’ garnered over 4.8 million views on X.
Speakers criticized the Union government repeatedly, warning the protests were only the beginning. Abhijit Dipke vowed escalation if demands were unmet, citing the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as precedent, and announcing protests on October 10 at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Karnataka’s Role and Political Accusations
Karnataka was central to the Congress’s ‘vote chori’ campaign after Rahul Gandhi claimed voter list manipulations in Bengaluru’s Mahadevapura in 2025. The Congress-led state government accused BJP of submitting hundreds of thousands of deletion forms for voters unfriendly to their party.
Since starting SIR, over 1 crore deletions occurred in Karnataka. Congress accuses PM Modi and CEC Gyanesh Kumar of targeting oppressed communities and minorities through voter deletions.
Protest Atmosphere and Messages
CJP leaders emphasized they acted as citizens, not political agents. The protest stage was two-tiered, with senior activists on a lower level and Rathee, Raj, Dipke on a higher one. The youthful crowd cheered enthusiastically but was separated from the stage by barricades and substantial police presence.
Dipke criticized Modi’s governance, calling him a “murderer of democracy” and warning against dictatorship. He recalled India’s founding icons and advised Modi to recall Adolf Hitler’s fate, asserting India would not be turned into a dictatorship.
