SKM joins agitation over SIR irregularities; movement to grow bigger: Actor Prakash Raj

BENGALURU: Actor-activist Prakash Raj on Monday said the protest over alleged SIR irregularities was snowballing into a nationwide movement, with the SKM joining the agitation.

He also claimed that voters would oust the Narendra Modi-led government in centre if it continued to suppress dissent.

Raj said he had attended a meeting of around 200 organisations in Delhi, where the Samyukt Kisan Morcha announced its decision to join the protest.

"They have seen the children being beaten, they have seen the protests," Raj told reporters here, expressing happiness over the SKM's decision to extend support to the agitation.

Recalling the farmers' agitation against the three farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government, he said the SKM had called on farmers' organisations to join the protest on October 23.

"Despite the cannons, despite the bulldozers, despite stopping them, they won the battle, and they just can't keep quiet anymore. So they said, 'We are with the students.' It's not just the students' cause, it is a fight of the country," he said.

Raj said the movement would grow bigger than the students' protest at Jantar Mantar and blamed the government for the growing agitation.

He said the participation of farmers, jawans, labour unions and Dalit organisations would send a clear message to the ruling regime that the country was coming together to defend voting rights.

"It is not just a political issue, it is the dignity of a voter, our right to vote, and that is where we are fighting," he said.

"In this country, we have a Constitution, we have our voting right, and (Mahatma) Gandhi has taught us how to fight. This will be a peaceful protest on the road. If these people (the central government) continue not to listen to us and refuse to engage in dialogue, we will vote them out and bring them down," he said.

Raj said the process could begin with the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur.

He reiterated that voters would vote Narendra Modi and his government out of power in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

"If you are going to use the army, force, and silence dissent, if you are not ready to answer the people of this country, people will bring them down. That will be the regime change," he said.