The Lokshahi Adhikar Sangharsh Samiti will hold a protest in Pune on October 16 against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an end to what it describes as police action against peaceful demonstrators.
The protest is scheduled from 10 am to 5 pm near the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue outside Pune Railway Station. The committee said it would submit an application to the police seeking permission for the demonstration.
According to the organisers, the protest will focus on concerns over the impact of SIR on democracy and citizens’ voting rights. The committee has alleged that the revision process could affect people’s ability to remain on electoral rolls, though the source report does not provide details of specific deletions or official findings related to the process.
The planned demonstration follows protests held by several organisations between October 7 and 11. The committee alleged that the Pune Police stopped a demonstration near Goodluck Chowk on October 11 and that police personnel used batons against protesters at around 5 pm.
The allegation has not been independently confirmed in the material supplied for this report. No response from the Pune Police or the Election Commission was cited in the source report. The committee described the alleged action as an attempt to prevent citizens from expressing their views and said peaceful protest was a democratic right.
Representatives associated with student organisations, including SFI Pune, AISF Pune and NSYF, were listed in connection with the press conference announcing the October 16 protest. The organisers said they would continue their agitation despite the alleged police action and called on the police administration to allow people to express their views peacefully.
The next formal step is the organisers’ application to the police for permission. The protest’s location and conduct will depend on the response from the police administration.
