Student, youth groups protest against SIR in Hosapete

Students and youth activists of AIDSO, AIDYO and SFI stage a protest against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Hosapete on Friday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Student and youth organisations on Friday staged a protest in front of the tahsildar’s office in Hosapete, demanding the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The protest was organised jointly by the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO), the All India Democratic Youth Organisation (AIDYO) and the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India through the tahsildar.Addressing the gathering, AIDSO district president Ravi Kiran J.P. alleged that the SIR process could exclude poor people, daily-wage workers, rural residents and marginalised communities from electoral rolls by requiring documents such as SSLC marks cards, bank account details and birth certificates, even when they possess Aadhaar cards or voter ID cards.He also objected to the alleged stringent requirements for first-time voters registering through Form 6, particularly the requirement to furnish parents’ documents. He said these conditions could deprive a large number of young people of their voting rights and alleged that the process violated the principle of universal adult suffrage guaranteed under Article 326 of the Constitution.He called for the restoration of all deleted voter names and said the organisations would continue their agitation until the SIR process was withdrawn.SFI district secretary Shivareddy alleged that the SIR exercise was not merely a revision of electoral rolls but a process that could deprive crores of people of their voting rights. Citing an investigative report by The Indian Express, he claimed the exercise was pushed through despite objections from the other two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.He alleged that the process had led to the deletion of more than 13 crore names from electoral rolls across 30 States and Union Territories and demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of acting in favour of the ruling party.AIDYO district secretary Pampapathi said the right to vote was fundamental to democracy and alleged that constitutional institutions were being misused to suppress the voices of poor people, Dalits, women and young voters. He called upon the youth to unite against what he described as anti-democratic measures. Published - October 09, 2026 07:24 pm IST