States » SouthPosted at: Oct 29 2026 11:09AM


Cong Faultline: Jarkiholi defends roll revision, Hariprasad questions absent voters

Bengaluru, Oct 29 (UNI) A divergence has surfaced within the Karnataka Congress over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with Minister Satish Jarkiholi defending the exercise and the removal of nearly one crore names, while state Congress president B K Hariprasad has questioned the exclusion of voters categorised as absent.
The contrasting positions have brought into focus a key question for the Congress: whether the reduction in the electorate represents the removal of ineligible entries or whether eligible voters may have been left out during the revision.
Jarkiholi defended the Karnataka exercise, arguing that it was conducted properly following the Congress's protests and training of its workers. He said the party's objections were directed at the manner in which SIR was conducted in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar.
“Our grouse is against the SIR that was done in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar,” he said.
“The SIR in Karnataka was done right because of our protests and training. Our argument is that SIR should have happened in the same manner in other states,” he added.
Defending the removal of nearly one crore names, Jarkiholi said these were voters who had shifted residence, died or appeared more than once in the electoral rolls.
However, Hariprasad struck a different note, questioning the exclusion of voters even as he acknowledged that deceased and duplicate entries should be removed.
“One crore voters have been left out. Our agitation is against this,” Hariprasad said.
“Our question is on voters marked as ‘absent’. Where did these voters go?” he asked.
The contrasting remarks are significant because the two leaders are addressing different aspects of the same exercise: Jarkiholi has defended the process and the removal of ineligible entries, while Hariprasad has questioned whether the classification of absent voters could have resulted in eligible electors being excluded.
Karnataka's final electoral roll, published on October 27, contained 4,55,00,011 electors, compared with 5,54,32,314 before the revision — a reduction of 99,32,303 names.
The figures have sharpened the debate over the grounds for removal, the verification of absent voters and the safeguards available to those seeking restoration of their names.
The Congress has raised concerns over the handling of Form 7 applications, which allow objections to entries in electoral rolls. The Election Commission's procedures for verification and disposal of such cases remain central to assessing the party's concerns.
The key question is whether the Election Commission can provide a clear category-wise account of the names removed and explain what verification was undertaken before voters were classified as absent.
For the Congress, the issue now extends beyond opposing the SIR process in other states to establishing whether the Karnataka exercise, which Jarkiholi has defended, adequately protected every eligible voter.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Cong Faultline: Jarkiholi defends roll revision# Hariprasad questions absent voters
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