Bengaluru, Aug 7 (IANS) Karnataka Congress Chief President B.K. Hariprasad on Friday wrote to the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), V. Anbu Kumar, urging the Election Commission to extend by 15 days the deadline for voters to rectify their names marked under the ADDSO category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In the letter, Hariprasad referred to the district-wise Electoral Form (EF) digitisation status as of 4 p.m. on August 5 and stated that 1,10,97,426 voters have been classified under the ADDSO category — Absent, Death, Delete, Shifting and Others — accounting for 20.02 per cent of the state’s electorate.
The KPCC chief noted that the Chief Electoral Officer’s office had made the readable list of ADDSO voters available online, enabling genuine voters whose names have been included in the category to approach their respective Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and correct the records.
However, Hariprasad expressed concern that the current deadline of August 8 would not provide sufficient time for all affected voters to verify and rectify their details.
“Since the window is closing on August 8, we seek an extension of 15 days to effectively exercise this compliance and bring down to the maximum possible ADDSO,” he said in the letter.
The Congress party has maintained that a significant number of bona fide voters may have been incorrectly categorised and should be given adequate opportunity to have their names restored before the electoral roll revision process is completed.
The request comes amid an ongoing political debate over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka, with the ruling party raising concerns over the classification of voters under the ADDSO category. The Election Commission has maintained that voters can approach BLOs to correct any discrepancies before the final rolls are prepared.
Hariprasad urged the Chief Electoral Officer to consider the request in the interest of ensuring that no eligible voter is deprived of the right to vote due to procedural constraints.
Chief Minister Shivakumar, reacting to a question on deletion of names of 1.10 crore persons from the voters list, stated that he will react once the SIR process is concluded. He maintained that he will talk about the matter separately.
The Congress party in Karnataka on Thursday alleged that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is being used to remove eligible voters, accusing the BJP of attempting to disenfranchise its supporters ahead of future elections.
Referring to information shared by Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar, KPCC Media and Communications Department Chairman Ramesh Babu claimed that nearly 20 per cent of the state’s 5.40 crore voters were at risk of being deleted from the electoral rolls.
“Every vote deleted in Karnataka is the direct responsibility of the BJP. The SIR exercise is not merely an electoral roll revision. It is an attempt to remove Congress supporters from the voters’ list,” he alleged.
He said the Congress had urged the Election Commission to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls.
According to him, voters are being deleted on the grounds that they are absent, deceased, enrolled in multiple locations or have changed their address. He alleged that the percentage of voters proposed for deletion had increased from 15 per cent last week to 20 per cent this week.
–IANS
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