Economist and political commentator Parakala Prabhakar, husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is set to join an anti-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) protest on October 23, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the Election Commission of India's electoral roll revision exercise.
The protest, titled the People's March to Restore Democracy, has been called by the People Against SIR alliance, formed on October 14. Prabhakar will share the stage with actor-activist Prakash Raj, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, All India Students' Union president Neha Bora, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, author Tushar Gandhi and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh.
The alliance has called for the scrapping of the SIR exercise and the restoration of names deleted from electoral rolls. It has also urged parties in the INDIA bloc to participate in the march.
'Har Haath Mein Tiranga': Alliance Calls For Nationwide Protest
The People Against SIR alliance has announced the march with the stated aim of restoring democracy and creating “Jantar Mantars all over the country”.
Its slogan, “Har haath mein tiranga, har gali mein Jantar Mantar”, translates to “a tricolour in every hand and a Jantar Mantar in every street”.
The alliance has called on citizens, students, farmers, workers, women, Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and other groups to join the demonstration. Its demands include action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, scrapping the SIR process and restoring the names of eligible voters deleted from electoral rolls.
Prabhakar Calls SIR 'Bloodless Political Genocide Of Citizenship'
Prabhakar has been a vocal critic of the electoral roll revision exercise, describing it as a “bloodless political genocide of citizenship”. He has argued that the deletion of names from voter lists could deprive eligible citizens of their voting rights and create divisions between those who can vote and those who cannot.
He has also called for greater public mobilisation to help voters whose names have been deleted seek restoration of their voting rights.
The Election Commission's SIR exercise is intended to revise electoral rolls. However, critics have raised concerns over the deletion of eligible voters, transparency and the potential impact on marginalised communities. The controversy has triggered protests by opposition parties and civil society groups in several states.
