BENGALURU: Karnataka Public Works minister Satish Jarkiholi has defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, saying it was conducted properly because of the Congress’s protests and training. His remarks come as the party intensifies its ‘vote chori’ campaign against the Election Commission’s exercise in other states.The Election Commission published Karnataka’s final electoral rolls after the revision, showing 4.55 crore voters, down from 5.54 crore before the exercise. This represents a net reduction of 99.32 lakh voters.Responding to the Congress’s opposition to the SIR, Jarkiholi said the party’s objections concerned the manner in which the exercise was conducted in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar, rather than the process followed in Karnataka.“The SIR in Karnataka was done right because of our protests and training. Our argument is that SIR should have happened in the same manner in other states,” he said.Jarkiholi’s remarks underline the distinction between the Congress’s criticism of the SIR in other states and its assessment of the exercise in Karnataka. While the party has been campaigning against alleged irregularities in electoral rolls, the minister has defended the state’s revision, crediting protests and training for its conduct.His comments come amid renewed scrutiny of the sharp decline in Karnataka’s electorate following the SIR. The reduction has raised questions about the deletion of names and whether voters were removed after shifting elsewhere or were omitted from the rolls altogether.
