States » SouthPosted at: Oct 30 2026 1:10PM


Jarkiholi backtracks on SIR defence

Bengaluru, Oct 30 (UNI) A day after triggering unease within the Congress by defending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Friday sought to clarify his position, asserting that his remarks were not an endorsement of the exercise but a reference to the alleged foiling of a BJP conspiracy to target Congress-supporting voters.
In a video statement on X, Jarkiholi said his earlier comments had been misinterpreted and maintained that attempts to remove eligible voters through Form 7 applications had been effectively countered in Karnataka through the political campaign led by Rahul Gandhi and the leadership of the state government.
"Compared to other states, the BJP's conspiracy to delete names of Congress-supporting voters from the electoral rolls in Karnataka through Form-7 has been foiled through the struggle of our national leader Shri Rahul Gandhi and under the guidance of Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri D K Shivakumar — this was the intention of my statement. However, I did not make a statement in the sense that the SIR process is correct," he said.
The clarification assumes significance as his remarks on Thursday had appeared to endorse the SIR exercise, drawing a distinction between Karnataka and states such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar, where the Congress has raised objections over the revision process.
Jarkiholi had said Karnataka had conducted the exercise properly and suggested that other states follow its example. He had also defended the removal of around one crore names from electoral rolls elsewhere, arguing that they related to deceased, shifted and duplicate voters.
His comments, however, exposed differences within the Karnataka Congress over the handling of SIR, with Home Minister Priyank Kharge questioning the claim that the exercise had been conducted without serious irregularities.
Kharge had cited alleged manipulation of Form 7 applications in Chittapur, claiming that 40 voters belonging to a single community were targeted at one polling booth. He alleged that bulk pre-printed applications had surfaced without clarity about their source and that even the person who submitted them was unaware of the reasons for seeking the removal of the voters' names.
"The person who had submitted the Form 7 did not know why he had done that, and all they said was, 'It's come from the top'," Kharge had said, describing the incident as evidence of a centralised conspiracy.
He had vowed that the government would investigate the matter and get to the bottom of the alleged irregularities.
Seeking to put the controversy behind him, Jarkiholi reiterated on Friday that he had consistently opposed any illegal attempt to remove eligible voters from electoral rolls and that his stand was rooted in protecting democratic rights.
"My stand against any attempt to snatch away the rights of eligible voters has been firm from the beginning. I strongly oppose attempts to illegally remove names of eligible voters from the voters' list," he said.
The clarification comes ahead of the INDIA bloc's November 1 rally, with the Congress seeking to maintain a united political position on electoral roll revision and its allegations against the BJP.
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