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As the INDIA bloc's Karnataka unit held a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that all voters whose names had been deleted, except those who are deceased, should get justice, and asserted that the protest would continue until their demands were met.
"We don't agree with the way SIR is ongoing. All the voters whose names have been deleted, except for the deceased, should get justice. Until justice is served, we will continue to fight," Shivakumar said. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the Election Commission had failed to address questions over the SIR and voter deletions. "We have made our demand very clear. Gyanesh Kumar should resign; he should go. Today the country has seen mandates being manufactured because of the Chief Election Commissioner. It has been proved. People are asking questions; the CEC is missing. There have been five U-turns by the Election Commission about its stand on Form 6 and Form 7, about the software that has been manipulated for deletions, and they are unable to answer any questions that are being posed," Kharge said. Earlier in the day, KPCC President BK Hariprasad said that the INDIA bloc's protest against SIR of electoral rolls would continue until Gyanesh Kumar resigns. Today, the INDIA bloc is organising a massive protest against Mr Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR. This is in continuation of the November 1 Ramlila rally, where my leader Rahul Gandhi ji, All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge ji, and all INDIA bloc leaders had gathered at Ramlila to seek the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar and to scrap the SIR, Hariprasad said. He said that INDIA bloc leaders and members had assembled at Freedom Park to continue the protest. In continuation of this, the INDIA bloc has assembled today at Freedom Park, and we are going to start our protest today. All our INDIA bloc members are here. And till Gyanesh Kumar resigns, this protest will continue, he said. Hariprasad further said that the protest would be extended across Karnataka, with District Congress Committee presidents holding rallies at district headquarters on Thursday. Today, all my District Congress Committee presidents are also holding protest rallies at all the district headquarters. From tomorrow onwards, it will reach the talukas and blocks. This will continue till Gyanesh Kumar resigns, he added. The protest, which started at 11 AM and will go on until 2 PM, is being 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 organisations involved in the anti-SIR agitation. The protest is being presided over by 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 are also participating. Meanwhile, police personnel have been deployed in adequate numbers at Freedom Park to maintain security and manage the gathering. The protest comes as opposition parties continue to raise concerns over the SIR exercise and seek accountability from the Election Commission. (ANI)
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