Bengaluru, July 6 -- Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday alleged that opposition parties were conspiring to deprive the poor and minorities of their voting rights, while asserting that the state government was only creating awareness among people about Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and had no interference in the Election Commission's exercise.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said, "Even though we oppose the SIR process, our government is creating awareness among the people to protect their voting rights. This is a process of the Election Commission, and there is no government interference in it. But it is a conspiracy by the opposition parties to snatch away the voting rights of the poor and minorities...