The protest against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which began as a student-led agitation in the capital, is set to widen sharply this week. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body that led the historic agitation against the three farm laws, has announced its decision to join the stir, and farmer organisations across the country have called for demonstrations on October 23.
The announcement marks a significant escalation. What started as a movement of students and opposition workers in Delhi is now drawing in the country’s most powerful farm unions, along with Dalit organisations, trade unions and civil society groups.
Actor-activist Prakash Raj, who welcomed the SKM’s decision, said the coming together of farmers, Dalits and labour organisations sends a strong message to the ruling regime. Speaking in Bengaluru on Monday, he said the movement was snowballing into a nationwide agitation and would grow bigger than the students’ protest at Jantar Mantar.
What the farmers are demanding
According to the farmer bodies and their supporters, the protest is about one central demand: scrapping the SIR exercise and protecting the right to vote. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), founded in 1936 and claiming over 1.58 crore members, has also announced it will join the October 23 protests, and its president Ashok Dhawale has demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Farmer groups say the revision is unjustly purging legitimate voters at the expense of the opposition, an allegation the protest leaders have raised repeatedly in recent weeks. The agitation has also called for a change in the process of selecting election commissioners, which Dhawale described as an urgent question of democracy.
Karnataka to see protests in all 31 districts
In Karnataka, various farmer organisations announced on Monday that they will stage protests in all 31 districts of the state on October 23. The call came after the SKM urged farmers nationwide to hold demonstrations demanding the chief election commissioner’s resignation.
Farmer rights activist Chukki Nanjundaswamy told a press conference in Bengaluru that “vote overrides support prices” is the new rallying cry. “Voting is a fundamental right in a democracy, and that is what they are trying to snatch away from us,” she said, adding that once democracy goes, fights for minimum support prices or loan waivers lose their meaning.
Badagalapura Nagendra, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, criticised the suppression of peaceful protests in Delhi. The event was attended by Prakash Raj and leaders of Dalit organisations.
A nationwide coalition takes shape
The SKM’s entry changes the scale of the agitation. The decision was announced at a meeting of around 200 organisations in Delhi, where Prakash Raj was also present. The AIKS said the October 23 protests, called by the SKM and other groups, will be held across the country with large demonstrations planned at district and local levels.
Dhawale said farmers, trade unions, student and youth organisations, women’s groups and civil society organisations will all take part. “It is not just the students’ cause, it is a fight of the country,” Raj told reporters, recalling the farm-laws agitation when farmers stood firm despite being stopped with barricades and force, and eventually forced the government to withdraw the laws.
What comes next
October 23 will be the first major test of how wide the agitation has become. If the farm unions turn out in large numbers across districts, the government will face pressure on two fronts: the streets and the ballot box. Raj said voters themselves would give the final verdict, and that the process could begin with the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur.
For now, the SKM’s move has converted a Delhi-centred protest into a pan-India campaign, and all eyes are now on how October 23 unfolds across the country’s districts.
FAQs
What is the SIR being protested against?
SIR stands for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, described as a once-in-20-year update of India’s voter lists. Protesters allege it is unjustly deleting genuine voters and favouring the ruling party, while seeking the chief election commissioner’s resignation.
Why are farmers protesting on October 23?
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has called on all farmers’ organisations to hold protests on October 23 to demand scrapping of the SIR and the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, turning the agitation into a nationwide movement.
Which organisations are backing the protest?
The SKM, the All India Kisan Sabha, the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, various Dalit organisations, trade unions, student and youth groups, women’s organisations and civil society groups. Around 200 organisations met in Delhi to coordinate.
Who is Prakash Raj in this story?
The actor-activist attended the Delhi meeting and has become one of the prominent public faces of the agitation, publicly welcoming the farmers’ entry and saying the movement will defend voting rights peacefully.
Could this affect the upcoming elections?
Prakash Raj has said the voters’ response could begin with the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur, framing the agitation as a defence of democratic rights rather than a party-political campaign.
Stay with Informeia for continuing coverage of the anti-SIR agitation and its fallout in the days ahead.
