SIR: Congress alleges 84 lakh voters risk removal in Karnataka ‘without thorough verification’

The ruling Congress in Karnataka has alleged that more than 84 lakh voters could be removed from the state’s electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise “without thorough verification”, The Indian Express reported.

The party warned that genuine electors could be disenfranchised in the process.

However, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar, has rejected suggestions of mass deletions, saying voters listed under the “Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others” category will not be removed automatically and that the verification process is continuing, The New Indian Express reported.

In a petition submitted to the chief electoral officer, the Congress said data from the election authorities showed that 84.31 lakh of the 5.54 crore voters mapped before the exercise had been classified for deletion on grounds including being absent, shifted, dead, duplicate or under other categories during door-to-door verification by booth-level officers, The Indian Express reported.

The figure represents about 15% of the electorate before the revision process began.

The party has called for a second round of physical verification before any names are removed from the rolls.

“Ensure that no elector is deleted merely on the basis of a single house visit or incomplete verification,” the newspaper quoted the petition as saying. “Provide adequate notice and reasonable opportunity to every affected elector before any deletion is finalised.”

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