Karnataka Congress alleges massive lapses in voter list revision ahead of GBA polls in Bengaluru

A complaint filed by the party alleged “large-scale deletion of voters and assignment of members of the same family to different polling stations” in the GBA limits.

“It has come to my notice through multiple representations from party workers, booth-level agents, and concerned citizens that a significant number of genuine voters have been removed from the rolls without due notice or verification. In many instances, members of the same family residing at a single address have been assigned to different polling stations or even different parts within the constituency, causing confusion, inconvenience and potential disenfranchisement. Such irregularities raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency and fairness of the electoral process,” Shivakumar said in the complaint.

Among the demands by the party was a comprehensive audit of recent deletions in the electoral rolls across affected constituencies in Greater Bangalore Area, restoration of all eligible voters who have been wrongly deleted after due verification, Immediate corrective steps to ensure that members of the same household are not arbitrarily distributed across different polling booths, and to provide an opportunity for political parties to review and verify the revised rolls before final publication.

Addressing reporters, Shivakumar said that the Karnataka Congress delegation highlighted the various lapses observed during the revision of voter rolls. “There are Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who have divided votes from one house in two separate booths. In some places, minority voters were removed. Backward class voters were removed. There are instances where residents of a single house have voting rights in multiple booths. We have submitted the records. We requested him (State Election Commissioner) to seek a report, re-verify and suspend BLOs responsible for it,” he said.

Highlighting the alleged irregularities during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by ECI, he said that the provisions for revising electoral rolls were being misused. “Elections are being held for GBA, zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats. So, a clean list (of voters) should be prepared,” he said.

According to Congress sources, while the average number of voters per booth was 800-1,200, the SEC has mandated having 1,500 voters per booth. This is the main reason for the division of voters, according to the Congress. The delegation also flagged ‘mischief by BLOs’ looking to tamper with the voter roll revision process, the source added.

Karnataka, it can be recalled, has been at the centre of allegations regarding voter list manipulation. The ‘vote chori’ campaign launched by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was based on the findings of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency, in which large-scale tampering was allegedly observed.