Karnataka’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has come under renewed scrutiny after voters in Bengaluru and Vijayapura alleged that eligible electors were wrongly removed from the rolls. In Bengaluru’s Ulsoor, eight members of a 32-member family said their names were deleted despite living at the same address for decades, with the entries reportedly marked as “absent” or “permanently shifted”. In Vijayapura, living voters protested after allegedly finding themselves listed as “dead”.
The controversy comes amid the exclusion of more than one crore names from Karnataka’s draft electoral rolls under categories including shifted, absent, dead and duplicate voters. The Election Commission maintains that the SIR is intended to identify and remove ineligible entries, while affected voters and opposition leaders are demanding verification and restoration of genuine names.
Families Question How Genuine Voters Were Removed
At Anand Nair Street in Bengaluru’s Ulsoor, a joint family says it has lived at the same address for more than 35 years, with 32 members registered as voters. Eight family members reportedly discovered that their names had been removed during the SIR, with the stated reasons being “absent” or “permanently shifted”. The family disputes both classifications and says none of the eight has moved away or registered elsewhere. They also allege that deletion applications were filed through Form 7, which is used to request the removal of names from electoral rolls. The family has sought verification and restoration of the names, while allegations that the deletions were politically or communally motivated remain unverified.
A separate dispute emerged in Vijayapura, where voters who say they are alive protested after allegedly being categorised as deceased. Demonstrators gathered outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office seeking an explanation and action against those responsible. Some protesters alleged that false death certificates had been used to facilitate deletions, while another claim suggested that around 1,046 living voters across 198 polling booths were affected. These claims have not been independently verified and are subject to investigation. The cases highlight how errors in electoral records can have consequences beyond paperwork, potentially preventing eligible citizens from exercising their franchise.
Over 1 Crore Names Under Scrutiny
The Karnataka SIR has placed a large number of electors under categories including Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate. Data based on Election Commission publications shows around 1.07 crore electors removed across these categories, including approximately 64.82 lakh classified as permanently shifted, 18.81 lakh as absent, 16.27 lakh as dead and 7.02 lakh as duplicate entries. Being placed in an ASDDO category does not, by itself, establish that a voter is ineligible, and officials have previously stressed that the classification forms part of the verification process.
The dispute has now acquired a political dimension. Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has alleged a “criminal conspiracy” to remove eligible voters and accused BJP workers of misusing Form 7. The BJP has rejected such allegations and questioned the basis of the accusations. Separately, Bengaluru police have registered an FIR over allegations involving 778 Form 7 applications in Malleswaram, where questions have been raised about whether applications were improperly used to seek deletion of genuine voters. Police are investigating the allegations, and responsibility has not yet been established.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
An accurate electoral roll is the foundation of a functioning democracy, but so is the protection of every eligible citizen’s right to vote. Removing genuinely ineligible or duplicate entries is necessary, but mistakes involving living citizens, long-standing residents or entire families must be addressed transparently and swiftly. Political parties should avoid turning individual grievances into unverified accusations, while election authorities must ensure that every disputed deletion has a clear verification and appeal mechanism.
Democracy works best when institutions listen, citizens can question decisions without fear, and genuine errors are corrected before they affect the ballot. How can election authorities make voter-roll revisions more transparent while ensuring that no eligible citizen is inadvertently denied the right to vote?
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