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Bengaluru activists voice opposition to Karnataka SIR, call on government to oppose it
Civil society groups under the umbrella of ‘My Vote, My Right’ flagged concerns over alleged inadequate training and pressure on Booth Level Officers.
Civil society groups in Bengaluru oppose proposed Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, allege stringent documentation norms risk disenfranchising women, migrants, transgender persons, Dalits, Adivasis and minorities. (Express Photo)
Several Bengaluru civil society groups under the umbrella of ‘My Vote, My Right’ held a press conference in the city on Wednesday to reiterate their opposition to a possible Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.
In a statement, the coalition said that the design of the SIR and the stringent document requirements were leading to the deletion of women, nomadic communities, migrant workers, members of the transgender community, Dalits, Adivasis, and religious minorities from the electoral rolls.
The groups also flagged concerns over alleged inadequate training and pressure on Booth Level Officers (BLOs), claiming that Form 7 (used for objections such as removing deceased persons from voter lists) was being misused by BJP members to delete Muslim voters from the rolls.
‘My Vote, My Right’ went on to call for the state government to pass a resolution against the SIR in both houses of the Karnataka legislature in the upcoming budget session and meet with civil society stakeholders to understand their concerns regarding the process.
The groups were represented by Clifton D’Rozario, national vice-president All India Central Council of Trade Unions; Mavalli Shankar, state convenor, Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, Ambedkarvada; Yusuf Kanhi from Jamaat e Islami Hind-Karnataka; activist Shripad Bhat; Jyothi Ananthasubbarao from the National Federation for Indian Women; Nisha Gulur from the Movement for Gender and Sexual Pluralism; and Mamatha Yajaman from Naaveddu Nilladidre.
“In Bengal, almost 1.3 crore people have been sent notices for logical discrepancy—for slight issues in age or differences in spelling between Bengali and English,” Rozario said, speaking to members of the media.
Regarding the voter roll mapping process, the groups said in a statement: “In our interactions with BLOs, we have learnt that even the instructions to carry out the mapping exercise were given through videos on WhatsApp groups. No electoral process can be conducted without clear written protocols and guidelines from the state’s election authorities.”
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“Glitches and errors in the app being used by BLOs for mapping are leading to the exclusion of many voters, despite them showing their names in the 2002 and 2025 voter rolls. BLOs are also reporting that many daughters-in-laws are being left out of the mapping exercise as they are not able to trace their names/parents’ or grandparents’ names in the 2002 rolls,” the statement added.
The groups also called for a meeting with political parties and civil society stakeholders before any SIR undertaking in the state and the suspension of any SIR until the Supreme Court deals with ongoing cases, among other demands.
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