Published Oct 06, 2026 | 7:04 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 06, 2026 | 7:04 PM
NSUI members attempt to move past barricades during their protest.
Synopsis: Hundreds of NSUI students from across Karnataka gathered at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Tuesday, demanding the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The protesters called for the removal and arrest of Kumar, an independent and transparent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and an investigation into the deletion of more than 13 crore voter names.
Hundreds of college students affiliated with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) from across Karnataka gathered at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Tuesday, 6 October, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The protest, held under the slogan “Stop Voter Chori, Save Democracy”, was led by NSUI national president Vinod Jakhar, State president Kirthi Ganesh and general secretary Venky Azad, among others. Students raised slogans including “Gyanesh Kumar rajinama aagabeku” (Gyanesh Kumar needs to resign).
The protest is the latest in a series of agitations across the country following an Indian Express exposé on decisions taken by the Election Commission, including the addition of a question to Form 6 despite the other two Election Commissioners not agreeing with them.
NSUI affiliates demanding the resignation of Gyanesh Kumar
The Supreme Court on Monday also made it clear that it had never validated changes made to Form 6, the statutory document used for voter registration.
Azad said the agitation centred on three demands: the removal and arrest of Kumar; an independent and proper conduct of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls; and an investigation into the basis on which the Election Commission had deleted over 13 crore names during the SIR process so far, with all those responsible for the alleged irregularities brought to account.
“Gyanesh Kumar has allowed the Election Commission to function like an affiliate organisation of the BJP and has destroyed the ideals of the Constitution. He should immediately be removed and arrested,” he alleged.
“Secondly, the Election Commission, which is an independent body, should independently and properly conduct the SIR in this country and our third demand is that regarding the deletion of voters, the Election Commission and the SIR process should be properly investigated, and people who have conspired behind this should be arrested.”
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Azad said students had travelled from different districts to participate in the protest and that some were stopped on their way to the venue.
“But no matter how much they try to stop us, we will continue to raise our rights and our demands. Just as Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation was demanded, we will continue to demand his resignation. Our struggle will continue until he is arrested,” he said.
Protest site
Noel Jude, an M.Com student and member of the Mangaluru NSUI, said the central demand was accountability from the Election Commission.
“Our main demand here is accountability and answers. We are not asking for the immediate resignation of Gyanesh Kumar. Everyone makes mistakes, we are humans after all, but refusing to hold accountability and refusing to answer the citizens shows serious flaws with our democratic framework,” Jude said.
“Because he is not giving answers, we are asking for his resignation. The Election Commission is nobody’s puppet. Our democracy and its system should continue. It should not fall down. They say our country is ‘Viksit Bharat’. Unfortunately our country is not heading in that direction. It should go towards Viksit Bharat – that is the demand of all of us.”
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UT Fareed, nephew of Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader and a member of the NSUI, said the SIR had become too centralised and called for greater transparency.
“SIR, which was supposed to be a decentralised procedure, has become very centralised. I’m not saying SIR is not needed. It is an important process in a democracy, but it needs to be done the right way,” he said.
“There is some propaganda behind it, targeting sections of voters who maybe don’t vote for them. Just because we’re associated with a political party doesn’t mean that we are not citizens of this country. We have to ask for our rights in a democracy. We plan to take this protest to the Karnataka Election Commission office and submit all our demands. Our demands are loud and clear – we want Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation and want all these procedures to be carried out transparently.”
NSUI members display placards and wave the organisation’s flags
Jakhar said the agitation was a fight to “save our future and protect our rights”.
“If governments are formed through ‘vote theft’, nothing will be left in this country. Gyanesh Kumar must resign. Until he resigns, we are not going to stop. We will march peacefully and demand his resignation,” he said.
The students unfurled and waved NSUI’s blue-and-orange flags before marching towards the Election Commission office.
Jakhar and Ganesh were briefly detained by the police during the march, and the delegation was prevented from submitting its letter to the Karnataka Election Commission.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
