States » SouthPosted at: Oct 29 2026 11:56AM


Karnataka SIR flags 716 non-Indian citizens

Bengaluru, Oct 29 (UNI) Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has flagged 716 non-Indian citizens for removal, including 545 Nepalese citizens in Bengaluru North, but it remains unclear whether any of them had cast votes in previous elections.
The figures raise questions about how the individuals were enrolled in the electoral rolls, whether their citizenship status was verified at the time of registration and whether any had exercised their voting rights.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar confirmed that foreign nationals had been detected during the revision, adding that their number was below 1,000.
District-level figures show that Dakshina Kannada recorded 40 such cases, including 17 Nepalese citizens, six each from Australia and the United States, five from Canada, two from Britain and one each from the Netherlands, South Africa, Ireland and Norway.
Uttara Kannada reported 22 cases involving citizens of Nepal, Pakistan, the United States and Bangladesh, while Udupi recorded 47 individuals from countries including Nepal, the US, Britain, France and Canada.
The findings come against the backdrop of Karnataka’s final electoral roll containing around 4.55 crore electors following the SIR. Nearly one crore names were removed during the revision, according to reported figures.
However, the identification of 716 non-Indian citizens does not, by itself, establish that all the individuals were confirmed foreign citizens at the time of enrolment or that any had cast votes. Foreign citizens are ineligible to register as electors under Indian law, but determining whether votes were actually cast would require separate verification of electoral records.
The Election Commission has said states were not specifically asked to maintain separate data on suspected foreign nationals identified during the exercise.
The Election Commission and Karnataka election authorities have yet to provide a detailed account of the 716 cases, including their verification status, the circumstances of their enrolment and whether any instances of voting by ineligible persons were detected.
UNI BDN
Tags: #Karnataka SIR flags 716 non-Indian citizens
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