BJP won states it could never have, says Abhijeet Dipke

BENGALURU: Election Commission officials had deleted voters at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke alleged. “Narendra Modi became Prime Minister by deleting and stealing votes,” he said here, addressing protesters at Benglauru’s Freedom Park on Thursday.

The CJP and other civil society organisations held a ‘People’s Tribunal’ on alleged deletion of voter names. He claimed that 13 crore votes had been deleted across India, and such deletions had helped the BJP win states it could not have. Votes were deleted in constituencies associated with former chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Tamil Nadu former CM MK Stalin, to unduly influence election outcomes, Dipke claimed. He also referred to the Keralam elections and the exit of Pinarayi Vijayan as CM.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee alleged “zero transparency and zero accountability” in the Election Commission’s handling of the SIR exercise. Referring to voter-roll revisions in Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Goa, he questioned the process and said the Election Commission should answer concerns over deletions and additions of voters.

Actor-activist Prakash Raj demanded that the SIR exercise be scrapped, alleging it was not merely about deletion of voters but an attack on the rights and dignity of citizens. He alleged that the deletions followed a pattern and disproportionately affected minority, tribal and Muslim voters.

Former Supreme Court judge Justice V Gopala Gowda asked who gave the CEC this authority. “We cannot allow SIR. It is unconstitutional. Like me, there are thousands who will support the protests until we win against this anti-democratic action.”

There was heavy police presence, with barricades erected around Freedom Park and on roads leading towards the Chief Electoral Officer’s office, as a precautionary measure.

At a press conference later in the day, Abhijeet Dipke alleged that living people had been wrongly declared dead in electoral records and their names were deleted, and questioned the basis for such deletions.

He alleged that the exercise was affecting voters who may not support the BJP. “Is this just a coincidence? Or is this a pattern?” he asked.

Dipke said CJP would hold a protest at Jantar Mantar on October 10, which would involve peaceful protests under the constitutional right to dissent. He said he was prepared to face detention or arrest.

On Thursday evening, CJP members staged a ‘Chappal protest’ in Bengaluru over crimes against women, and demanded their safety.

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

Download the TNIE app to stay with us and follow the latest