Venugopal Seeks Free and Fair SIR in Karnataka, Flags Alleged Deletion of Voters

Bengaluru, Sept 16 : Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Wednesday raised concerns over the alleged deletion of around 23 per cent of voters from the electoral rolls in Karnataka and demanded that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Venugopal said the Congress would remain vigilant against what it described as arbitrary deletion of voters' names from the electoral rolls.

“If it is genuine, nobody will have any problem. But the action of the Election Commission, especially for the last three-four years, is not giving a comfortable answer for all of us that this is going to be a genuine deletion,” he said.

The Congress leader alleged that around 23 per cent of the total voters had been deleted from Karnataka's electoral rolls and questioned the basis and procedure followed for such deletions.

Referring to the deletion of around 50 lakh voters ahead of an election, he said notices had now been issued to nearly 1.07 crore voters, raising concerns that their names could also be removed from the electoral rolls.

“From there we understand the motive of the Election Commission for this SIR exercise. Our party today is taking a very serious note,” Mr Venugopal said.

He said the Congress was not seeking any special favour from the Election Commission or other agencies, but wanted the electoral revision process to be carried out transparently.

“We don't want any undue favours from the Election Commission or the agencies. We want a free and fair play from the Election Commission of India,” he said.

Mr Venugopal also urged the Karnataka government to ensure that the SIR exercise was implemented properly, stressing that electoral victories should be based on the people's mandate.

“You can win election with the people's mandate,” he said, adding that the Congress was closely monitoring the election process and would raise concerns over what it considers irregularities at the state or national level.

Referring to the SIR exercise in Uttarakhand, he said the Congress had raised concerns over what it termed “unjustifiable deletion” and that the party's state leadership had sought a personal hearing before the Election Commission to present its complaints.

He said political parties should be given an opportunity to place their grievances before the poll authorities whenever they raise genuine concerns regarding the electoral process.

“Whenever a genuine complaint is there from the political party side, they have to give opportunity to hear that,” Mr Venugopal said.

On the organisational front, Mr Venugopal said the Congress was working to strengthen its structure in Karnataka from the booth level to the top leadership. The performance of office-bearers would be assessed after six months, he said, adding that those performing well would continue, while non-performing office-bearers would be replaced.