Economist Prabhakar joins Dipke, Prakash Raj, Neha in nationwide protests against SIR on October 23

Economist and political commentator Parakala Prabhakar. File | Photo credit: G. Ramakrishna

Economist Parakala Prabhakar, actor-activist Prakash Raj and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke will be among those leading a nationwide protest on Friday (October 23) against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar Gyanesh. Mr. Prabhakar said, “Har gali mi Jantar Mantar!”

Organized by the People Against SIR alliance, the protest will see the mobilization of activists, public figures, farm and labor organizations and student and youth groups across the country.

Others joining the protest include lawyer and activist Prashanth Bhushan, Anjali Bharadwaj, Ganesh Devy, activist and author Tushar Gandhi, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait, AISA president Neha, SFI joint secretary Aishe Ghosh and AISF national president Viraaj Devang.

The organizers called on citizens to participate in marches and demonstrations in their respective localities and called for a wider people-led movement to oppose the SIR exercise. Their demands include restoration of deleted names in electoral rolls, resignation and legal action against Gyanesh Kumar, repeal of amendments to the Election Commissioners Act 2023 and appointment of election commissioners through an “unbiased” process. They also called for electoral reforms, including a return to paper ballots.

The October 23 mobilization follows the formation of People Against SIR last week following an emergency consultation in Delhi attended by representatives of more than 200 organisations. The platform brings together civil society groups, farmers’ unions, workers’ organizations and women’s and youth groups to coordinate opposition to the revision.

The alliance also called upon the parties in the INDIA bloc to join the march and support the protests against the SIR exercise.

Published – 22 Oct 2026 0:30 AM IST