Hajababa has been asked him to appear before the gram panchayat on September 11 with all required original documents. Screengrab: ANI
Karnataka SIR: Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba gets EC notice over name discrepancy
Harekala Hajabba’s name reportedly appears as ‘Hajabba’ in the 2002 electoral roll, while his Aadhaar, passport, voter ID and other official records carry his full name
A 2020 Padma Shri awardee in Karnataka has received a notice from the Election Commission citing discrepancies related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Harekala Hajabba received the notice over a discrepancy in the way his name is recorded in the electoral rolls.
According to an NDTV report quoting sources, the name of the orange seller-turned-educationist was recorded as 'Hajabba' in the 2002 voter list, but subsequent government documents list it as 'Harekala Hajabba'. The documents are his Aadhaar card, ration card, passport and new voter ID, as well as documents related to his Padma Shri along with other awards.
EC notice over name discrepancy
The report further stated that the notice was served to the Padma Shri awardee through Anganwadi workers who visited his residence and asked him to appear before the gram panchayat on September 11 with all required original documents.
Also Read: Karnataka SIR: 43.81 lakh notices generated, 7.31 lakh delivered to electors
Hajababa has reportedly expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved after the documents are checked. During the hearing at the gram panchayat he would be required to submit all required documents in the presence of a village accountant for verification.
Hajabba’s journey from fruit seller
Hajababa was a fruit seller who came to prominence by building a primary school in his native village of Newpadapu from his savings earned from selling fruits.
He is among the about 44 lakh people who were served notices during the Karnataka SIR's "disposal of claims and objections phase". The hearings will be conducted between August 24 and October 22.
Karnataka SIR notices and timeline
The SIR process in Karnataka commenced on June 30. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer have said that over 43.81 lakh notices have been generated out of which out of which 7.31 lakh have been served to voters whose names came under the "no mapping" and "anomalies" categories, the report stated. The final electoral roll will be published on October 27 in Karnataka.
Also Read: Karnataka SIR: EC revises schedule, BLO house visits to continue till August 17
Earlier, several other prominent personalities, including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, cricketer Mohammed Shami and Trinamool Congress MP Deepak Adhikari, were served SIR notices.