Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other ministers after unveiling a statue of Sangolli Rayanna on Monday at Nandagadu, the village where he was hanged in Belagavi district, | Photo credit: PK BADIGER
“The Congress does not consider the special intensive revision of the Election Commission as a political issue. We will not do politics on SIR. But our concern is that not a single eligible voter should be left out of the electoral roll,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday. He was talking to reporters at Nandagad near Khanapur in Belagavi district. He was here to inaugurate Veera Bhoomi, a museum and multi-dimensional theater depicting the life of Sangolli Rayanna.
In response to a query, he said he had noticed reports saying that the names of more than 3 million voters had suffered a mismatch in the preliminary mapping of the European citizens’ initiative.
“However, we will take steps to ensure that no voter suffers injustice. We are issuing instructions to booth-level officers and other officers to conduct the SIR process carefully, cautiously and responsibly and ensure that no eligible voter is left out,” he said.
Asked about the requirement to use ballot papers in the Greater Bengaluru Authority and other local polls, the CM said it was the government’s stand that ballot papers should be used for all such polls.
“G. Janardhana Reddy, who went to jail for looting the state, has no moral authority to file charges against our government. Mr. Reddy is out on bail and the case is still pending in the Supreme Court. The opposition is busy making false allegations and misleading people. If the opposition has anything substantial to say, it should discuss it on January 2 in a special session.”
He said Karnataka is engaging experienced advocates to present its case in the Supreme Court when the Maharashtra-Karnataka state boundary dispute comes up on January 21. “We will raise the issue of jurisdiction and maintainability. We will argue that this issue should be resolved first. Our legal team is ready to present arguments against the petition filed by the Maharashtra government,” he said.
Regarding the Governor’s return of the Internal Reservation Bill, he said that suitable explanations would be given to the queries raised by the Governor. Mr Siddaramaiah said he would go to New Delhi if invited by the party high command.
Published – 19 Jan 2026 20:11 IST
