Karnataka Cabinet to take up SIR amid rising voter deletion concerns
With the Election Commission pushing the Bihar model of SIR, the Siddaramaiah government weighs political and legal options amid Congress objections
A crucial discussion on alleged vote manipulation and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls is expected to take place at the Karnataka Cabinet meeting scheduled for 6 pm on Thursday (February 5). With the Election Commission pushing to replicate the Bihar model of SIR in Karnataka, the Siddaramaiah-led government is working out a political strategy to counter the move.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had launched a campaign on alleged vote manipulation for the first time from Bengaluru. At the time, he had alleged that vote manipulation had taken place in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment during the Lok Sabha elections. However, he has now strongly criticised the SIR proposed by the Election Commission in Parliament, alleging that the Centre is attempting to remove genuine voters from the electoral rolls.
The Bihar model
The Election Commission earlier carried out an SIR exercise in Bihar to revise the electoral rolls. According to a draft report, around 6.5 million voters were removed from the rolls during the process. The deletion of such a large number of voters citing lack of documentation or technical reasons triggered a nationwide debate. If the same model is implemented in Karnataka, there are fears that hundreds of thousands of voters could be excluded from the rolls.
Support for SIR
While the Congress has termed the exercise a “conspiracy to strip voters of their rights,” Opposition parties including the BJP and JD(S) have backed the SIR. They argue that the exercise is necessary to remove irregularities, fake voters and duplicate entries from the electoral rolls.
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There is a possibility that the Cabinet meeting may discuss passing a resolution against the SIR or explore legal options to challenge it. Critics allege that the exercise, apparently meant for electoral roll revision, could be used to curtail the voter base of a particular section or political party.
(This article was originally published in The Federal Karnataka.)