4.16 mn SIR notices delivered in K’taka; CM backs call for CEC to resign

Chief minister D K Shivakumar on Friday backed the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Meanwhile, the state’s special intensive revision of electoral rolls entered a crucial stage with 4.163 million notices already delivered to voters.

Shivakumar said the revision process itself was necessary but objected to its alleged political use, and said eligible voters should be protected from being excluded. “We are living in the largest democratic country; this is not a dictatorship. No one is satisfied with this SIR. SIR should be done, no doubt about it, but the way it is being used politically is very wrong. So we are asking them to just give rights to everyone who is eligible,” he told reporters.

Asked about the national opposition considering an impeachment motion against the CEC, Shivakumar said they were entitled to raise their concerns.

In Karnataka, 43,82,296 notices have been generated for voters placed in the ‘No Mapping’ and ‘Anomalies’ categories during the electoral roll revision. Of these, 41,63,368 have been delivered, leaving 2,18,928 still to be distributed. The delivery rate is 95%, according to figures from the chief electoral officer’s office as of Friday.

The state electoral roll currently has 4,48,44,080 voters. Officials said inquiries relating to 28,80,882 notices had been completed, accounting for 69.20% of the notices issued. Another 12,82,486 inquiries remain pending.

The revision has also generated 19,48,164 applications through different forms. These include 7,70,988 Form 6 applications for addition of names, 4,551 Form 6A applications, 61,130 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names and 11,11,495 Form 8 applications.

The final hearing is scheduled for October 12, while October 22 is the deadline for completing the notice process and disposing of claims and objections.

At the request of registered and recognised political parties, the CEO’s office has also published on its website the list of voters who received notices under the ‘No Mapping’ and ‘Anomalies’ categories.

The SIR process has also become the subject of a political dispute in Belagavi, where Congress leaders have alleged that bulk Form 7 applications were being used to target minority voters. The dispute centred on a polling station in Veerabhadra Nagar, where two unidentified men who allegedly claimed to work for the Belagavi City Corporation reportedly asked a Booth Level Officer to sign about 200 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters described as “bogus”. The BLO refused, saying she had herself completed the mapping of the voters concerned. The men also allegedly sought copies of the acknowledgements for the applications.

Congress leaders alleged that the men were linked to a local BJP leader and said all 200 voters named in the applications were Muslims. Youth Congress leader Amaan Sait said the party would seek registration of an FIR and alleged that similar pressure was being exerted on BLOs elsewhere in Belagavi.

Belagavi deputy commissioner Mohammed Roshan said none of the voters had been deleted on the basis of the objections submitted at the polling station.

Workers of two political parties had also clashed at the same polling station on September 22 over allegations concerning bulk Form 7 objections, requiring police intervention.

The dispute widened on Thursday when state Congress president BK Hariprasad alleged that Belagavi South BJP MLA Abhay Patil had written to election authorities seeking deletion of about 2,500 voters’ names. Hariprasad, displaying documents at Vidhana Soudha, alleged that the applications involved minority voters and amounted to misuse of Form 7. He also alleged that requests were made concerning about 7,000 voters and that some applications sought action against as many as 50 voters from a single house. He demanded an Election Commission inquiry and action against anyone found to have filed false objections.

Patil rejected the allegations. He said his letter had asked only for verification of a report submitted by the Booth Level Agent, or BLA 2. “I have clearly written that the report submitted by BLA 2 should be verified and, if any voters are found to be bogus, their names should be deleted,” Patil said.