Overview
- The Cockroach Janta Party and allied civil society groups will hold a People’s Tribunal at Freedom Park followed by a symbolic “Chappal protest” on Thursday to highlight alleged wrongful removals from Karnataka’s voter lists.
- CJP co-convener Ashutosh Ranka set the programme to begin at 10:30 a.m., and party leaders Abhijeet Dipke and Saurav Das are expected to attend alongside actor Prakash Raj, who has urged large public turnout.
- Organisers are demanding that all deletions made during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) be scrapped and that pre‑SIR electoral rolls be restored, and they are calling for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign over alleged irregularities.
- The protest is also framed as an act of solidarity with women journalists who say they were sexually harassed at Jantar Mantar, linking concerns about voter deletion to wider civic space and safety issues.
- People’s tribunals are being used here to document complaints when official channels are contested, and organisers say the tribunal could increase pressure on election authorities while drawing more state and national protests, with the CJP signalling further action outside Karnataka.