From SIR To Protest: How Google Searches Shifted

The controversy around Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has started another protest from the youth of the India demanding his resignation and action over alleged irregularities.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) called for a protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on October 10, demanding Kumar's resignation. Delhi Police, however, did not grant permission for the planned demonstration.

As the protest date approached, Google searches began to shift, with protest-related terms gaining ground.

At the start of the week, on October 4, searches for SIR and Gyanesh Kumar were already drawing interest. But as the protest announcement gained attention, searches for "Protest" and "Cockroach Janta Party" began to rise.

The shift became more visible around October 9. By the morning of October 10, searches for both "Protest" and "Cockroach Janta Party" had surged, reaching their highest points in the period shown.

By the morning of October 11, CJP was leading among the five search terms, followed by "Protest". Searches for "SIR" and "Gyanesh Kumar" were lower, while "Jantar Mantar" also saw a rise around the protest-related spike.

Delhi Leads Protest Searches, Jharkhand Tops SIR

The state-wise data shows Delhi had the highest relative search interest for all three protest-related terms: "Cockroach Janta Party", "Gyanesh Kumar" and "Protest".

Delhi scored 100 for all three terms, the highest possible Google Trends score. Haryana followed for searches for CJP and protest, while Kerala ranked second for Gyanesh Kumar.

Delhi's position may be linked to the planned Jantar Mantar demonstration and the demand for Kumar's resignation. The rally announcement and the police decision not to permit it may also have contributed to the attention.

SIR searches showed a different pattern. Jharkhand recorded the highest relative interest, with a score of 100, followed by Bihar at 86. Delhi ranked third at 77.

Bihar's position may reflect its earlier experience with the SIR exercise, while interest in Jharkhand may be linked to the revision process and local developments.