Bengaluru Tiranga March calls for scrapping SIR electoral roll revision

Police intervened as Tiranga March participants displayed anti-SIR placards in Bengaluru. The confrontation underscored restrictions on demonstrations outside Freedom Park.Stock photo used for illustrationBengaluru,Oct 23, 2026 20:42 ISTSeveral people took out a Tiranga March in Bengaluru on Friday, opposing the SIR electoral roll revision exercise and demanding that it be scrapped, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The march, also called the Restore Democracy March, was supported by farmer unions, Dalit groups and student organisations. Participants carried the national flag as they marched from Town Hall towards Freedom Park.A day before the march, Bengaluru police issued notices to several people and organisations, including the All India Students' Association and the Students' Federation of India. The notices cited a Karnataka High Court order restricting protests, rallies and sit-ins in the city to Freedom Park, the designated protest venue.The notices also reminded the organisers that prior permission was required to hold demonstrations. When participants gathered outside Town Hall with placards targeting the Centre, the SIR exercise and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, police personnel intervened. They said permission had been granted only for a Tiranga March and that protest placards and slogans were not allowed, PTI reported.Despite appeals from police officers and organisers to follow the conditions of the permission, some participants continued to display placards and raise slogans. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Akshay M later arrived at the spot and reiterated that, in line with the High Court's directions, public protests and demonstrations in Bengaluru were restricted to Freedom Park.He said people carrying protest material would not be allowed to join the procession. The organisers then removed the placards, while police seized protest material from some participants who tried to proceed with it.Amid police presence, the procession moved from Town Hall to Freedom Park, with participants demanding that the electoral roll revision exercise be scrapped and Gyanesh Kumar be removed as Chief Election Commissioner.- Ends