Jarkiholi said the removals concerned people who had died, moved elsewhere or appeared more than once on the lists. Screengrab: ANI
Minister Satish Jarkiholi defends SIR; Priyank Kharge flags voter deletion concerns
Ahead of Congress’s November 1 rally over alleged ‘vote chori’, Karnataka ministers Satish Jarkiholi and Priyank Kharge differ over SIR in the state
As the Congress gears up for its November 1 rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan over alleged “vote chori”, Karnataka minister Satish Jarkiholi has defended the state's electoral roll revision. The Public Works Minister said the party's training ensured the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was carried out properly in Karnataka.
Credits training given by party
Jarkiholi said the Congress had questioned the exercise in states such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar, but had not protested against its conduct in Karnataka. He credited the party's training for the difference.
“We didn't protest about SIR in Karnataka; we raised issues about the SIR process in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, etc. Because of all the training we gave, SIR has been done properly in Karnataka; we want it to be done the same way in other states too,” Jarkiholi said as quoted by ANI.
Also Read: Karnataka SIR: Chief Electoral Officer says ‘no bulk deletion’ of voters
Asked about the deletion of 1 crore names from electoral rolls in the state, Jarkiholi said the removals concerned people who had died, moved elsewhere or appeared more than once on the lists.
“Yes, these are people who have died, shifted, or duplications; this should have been done in other places,” he said.
Priyank Kharge counters
Fellow Congress leader and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge responded, questioning Jarkiholi's assessment and citing alleged irregularities involving Form 7 applications used to seek the removal of names from electoral rolls.
Also Read: Karnataka SIR final list: 99.32 lakh names deleted; women outnumber men voters
“I'm not sure what information Jarkiholi has. For example, in Chittapur, in a single booth, 40 people were targeted who were from a single community, and that was investigated by the returning officers, and it was found that the pre-printed Form 7 was available in bulk. Nobody knew its origins,” he said.
“The person who had submitted the Form 7 did not know why he had done that, and all they said was, 'It's come from the top.' So that's a very clear indication that this is a conspiracy that has its roots all over the place, and it's centralised. We will get to the bottom of it,” added Kharge.
Kharge cites complaints from Vijayapura
Kharge further alleged that applications in Vijayapura had wrongly listed living people as dead.
“I have information on what has happened in Vijayapura. More than 40–50 people had been declared dead, and Form 7s were submitted. They went to the DC there and complained, saying, 'We are not dead; we are alive.' So all these things have happened. So I'm not sure what information Jarkiholi has. I'm basing my statements on things that have happened in Kalaburagi and elsewhere in the state,” he added.