Bengaluru, July 1 (IANS) Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday urged officials involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to function impartially and not succumb to any political pressure during the voter verification process.
“Officials should not yield to any kind of political pressure and must ensure that no ineligible person is included in the electoral rolls and that no eligible voter is excluded,” Bommai said.
In a statement, Bommai said the SIR process commenced on Tuesday with the distribution of enumeration forms across the state. He noted that reports were circulating alleging that some officials had been instructed to act under pressure from the Karnataka government and the Congress party during the revision of electoral rolls.
Bommai further said such reports had raised concerns and stressed that the integrity of the electoral process must be protected.
He appealed to all District Election Officers, Deputy Commissioners, election officials, Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs), and Revenue Department officials engaged in the voter list revision exercise to discharge their responsibilities in a completely impartial manner.
He also called upon the Election Commission to issue strict instructions to the vigilance teams constituted in every district to closely monitor the revision process and ensure that the electoral rolls are prepared in a fair and transparent manner.
Bommai further urged the Election Commission to issue a clear public directive reaffirming that all officials involved in the SIR exercise must function independently and without political interference.
The BJP leader said maintaining the credibility of the electoral roll revision process was essential to safeguarding the democratic rights of voters and ensuring free and fair elections.
It can be noted that the Karnataka BJP on Tuesday accused the Congress-led state government of creating hurdles in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Meanwhile, more than 12.48 lakh Enumeration Forms were distributed to voters across Karnataka on the first day of the SIR exercise on Tuesday, covering 2.25 per cent of the state’s 5.54 crore registered electorate, according to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka.
As many as 291 deceased and 116 shifted electors were identified on the opening day.
According to the Chief Electoral Officer’s daily press release, “Officials also identified 116 electors who had permanently shifted their residence, 291 deceased electors and 77 individuals who were already enrolled elsewhere. Two cases were categorised under the Others category.”
The digitisation of completed enumeration forms also began alongside the field exercise, with 47,817 forms digitised on the opening day, accounting for 0.09 per cent of the electorate. In addition, 6,840 voters submitted their enumeration forms online, representing 0.01 per cent of the total electorate.
The SIR commenced with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) launching house-to-house distribution of enumeration forms to eligible voters.
Karnataka has 5,54,32,314 registered electors as of June 16, all of whom are covered under the ongoing revision exercise. The house-to-house enumeration and digitisation of enumeration forms will continue from June 30 to July 29.
–IANS
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