K'taka CM seeks data on voter deletion forms amid S.I.R row
Bengaluru, Oct. 2 -- Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar has sought a constituency-wise account of objections filed to delete voters from the electoral rolls as a civil society audit of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) alleged that thousands of voters had been wrongly marked absent, shifted or dead.
"Every genuine voter's right to vote must be protected," Shivakumar said in a social media post on Wednesday night.
He said he had asked the Chief Electoral Officer to provide details of Form 7 objections, including bulk applications and those submitted without the prescribed reasons or mandatory particulars needed to seek deletion of a voter.
Shivakumar also questioned the use of pre-printed voter details in objections. "The submission of objections on pre-printed voter details further raises concerns of a systematic attempt to subvert the SIR process," he said.
Shivakumar said FIRs should be registered against people found involved in criminal activity connected with the revision.
"I have also called for FIRs against those found involved in such criminal activities, as attempts to manipulate the electoral roll and communalise the process cannot be allowed. Copies of such FIRs should be sent to the Chief Secretary," he said.
Shivakumar's statement came on the day a delegation led by actor and activist Prakash Raj submitted a survey related to the SIR process to him at his Bengaluru residence. The report was prepared by the Anti SIR Alliance and Citizens' Vote Protection Committee.
The 23-page survey is based on house-to-house verification at 100 polling booths in 25 districts. It alleged that voters who continued to live at their registered addresses had nevertheless been classified as absent, shifted or deceased.
The report said the exclusions had affected poorer and marginalised communities, including Dalits, Adivasis, nomadic groups and Muslims, as well as women.
It called for further verification of deletions and restoration of names found to have been wrongly removed....
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