Congress Minister Defends SIR Deletions In Karnataka, BJP Jabs Rahul Gandhi

Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi has sparked a controversy of massive proportions again by contradicting the official Congress stand on the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, saying it was conducted properly in Karnataka. The party, he said, is only opposed to the way SIR was conducted in Bengal, Bihar and other states. With Karnataka being the first state for which senior party leader Rahul Gandhi had flagged "vote theft", his comments have delighted the BJP. 

Contending that Congress leaders are "increasingly contradicting Rahul Gandhi's anti-SIR stand", the BJP, in a post on social media platform X, said, "Even Congress leaders recognise the need for a clean voter roll, exposing Rahul Gandhi's anti-democratic politics".

Congress leaders are increasingly contradicting Rahul Gandhi's anti-SIR stand. Karanataka Cabinet Minister Satish Jarkiholi defended Karnataka's SIR process, justifying deletions of nearly one crore names, citing duplicate, deceased and relocated voters. 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑: 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢'𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬.

— BJP (@BJP4India) October 29, 2026

In an interview, Jarkiholi said that the SIR exercise in Karnataka was handled properly because of the way party trained its cadres. 

Asked about the one lakh deleted voters, he said the poll commission has correctly identified and removed duplicate, dead, or shifted voters.

His comments also contradict the state Congress stand on the matter. Earlier, state Congress chief BK Hariprasad said the SIR exercise was meant "entirely to uproot the democratic process". "What is the basis, the foundation of democracy? The voter list is itself is a foundation of democracy, and they have deleted almost 1 crore votes in Karnataka, the largest (number of) voters, because the BJP does not have a base here. 

"To create their own base, they have entirely used Election Commission in their favor, for their gains. And that's why, that's where we oppose the stand of Election Commission," he added.

What will leave the Congress especially red-faced is the timing  of Jarkiholi's comments. The party is currently scaled up their campaign against SIR and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A massive rally has been planned for Sunday at Delhi's Ramlila Grounds which is expected to be a show of strength for the INDIA bloc.

It will be preceded by another programme - "People's Impeachment" of Gyanesh Kumar, that will be held at Congress chief  Mallikarjun Kharge's Delhi home. The 4.5-hour programme will be aired from social media accounts of the parties that are part of the bloc. 

Many leaders of the party have criticised Jarkiholi's statement. 

"Not sure what information Mr. Jarkiholi has," said Priyank Kharge.

"For example, in Chittapur, in a single booth, 40 people were targeted who were from a single community. And that was investigated by the RO, by the returning officers. And it was found that the pre-printed Form 7 that was available in bulk, nobody knew the origins for it." he said. 

"The person who had submitted the Form 7, he did not know why he had done that and all they said is it has come from the top. So, that's a very clear indication that this is a conspiracy theory that has its root all over the place," he added. 

Jarkiholi has been known for his out-of turn-comments. A Siddaramaiah loyalist, he had made headlines for wrong reasons earlier as well. His comments on Congress ministers being  honey-trapped or the origins of the word "Hindu" have sparked huge controversies and played into the hands of the BJP.