Karnataka Minister Alleges Conspiracy Over Voter Roll Deletions

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge alleged on Wednesday that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a conspiracy designed to favor the Bharatiya Janata Party and exclude opposition voters. Kharge claimed that nearly one crore people were left out of the process, citing the bulk printing of Form 7 applications as evidence of an attempt to keep specific sections of society from voting. He noted that the final electoral roll showed a decline from 5.54 crore to approximately 4.55 crore voters, a reduction of about 17.92%.

Chief Electoral Officer V Anbu Kumar denied these claims on Tuesday, stating that no voters were removed from the draft roll solely because of bulk Form 7 submissions. Kumar asserted that every deletion was conducted only after due verification. He reported that the final electoral roll consists of 45,511,000 voters and thanked political parties and booth agents for their cooperation during the process.

Kharge further suggested that similar irregularities occurred in Bihar and West Bengal, and referenced previous issues in Aland and Chittapur. In a separate political development, JD(S)-BJP alliance candidate AP Ranganath won the Bengaluru Teachers Constituency in the Karnataka Legislative Council, defeating Congress candidate Puttanna.