Mysuru: Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) district committee secretary Jagadeesh Surya on Thursday urged the state government to take measures to protect the voting rights of all citizens during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which will begin across Karnataka from June 30.
Referring to widespread criticism of the process in states such as West Bengal and Bihar, he alleged that the exercise had led to large-scale disenfranchisement, exclusion, and intimidation of vulnerable citizens. He claimed that around six crore voters were deleted during similar verification drives in other states.
He said the state government must ensure that the voting rights of poor, migrant, minority, Dalit, adivasis, and other marginalised communities are not affected during the revision. He also urged the state government to appeal to the Election Commission (EC) not to apply the concept of “logistical discrepancies,” which, he said, was used during verification drives in other states and resulted in the deletion of crores of voters.
Jagadeesh Surya emphasised that the revision process should be transparent and inclusive, with proper safeguards to prevent arbitrary removal of names. He called for awareness campaigns to educate voters about their rights and the procedures to rectify any errors. The CPM leader also demanded that the state government set up a monitoring mechanism to oversee the revision and address grievances promptly.
He warned that any attempt to manipulate the electoral rolls would undermine democracy and disenfranchise millions, especially those from weaker sections. The SIR is scheduled to commence on June 30 and will continue for several weeks across all districts of Karnataka.
