AHINDA leader SM Patil Ganihar was talking to reporters in Vijayapur on Saturday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Election Commission of India’s special intensive revision of electoral rolls is taking away the basic rights of voters, AHINDA leader SM Patil Ganihar told reporters in Vijayapur on Saturday. He warned that AHINDA would launch a nationwide agitation against the exercise.
“One of the most revolutionary changes introduced by Dr. BR Ambedkar in the constitution is universal franchise for adults. We must protect and preserve it. But SIR is taking away this right of citizens. SIR exercise in several states has already removed the names of millions of eligible voters citing silly reasons, spelling mistakes and non-submission of documents. Now when the process starts with 20 names of officials in Karnataka, we need their domicile based on 202 names of officials to be vigilant, but scholars and activists have argued that ECI has no right or mandate to hold SIR, so I appeal to Congress leaders to raise their voice against SIR,” he said.
He alleged that the ECI was acting at the behest of the BJP to create a strong electoral block that would be loyal only to the BJP. “Therefore, ECI officers are only targeting potential voters of Congress or other opposition parties. We have seen reports of names of former judges, advocates, booth-level officers and academics being omitted from the voter list. Many people have complained about SIR to the ECI and in various courts,” said Mr. Ganihar.
He said several million rural poor from north Karnataka travel to other districts and states in search of work. They do not have the documents required to prove their residence or voting history. Such people are at risk of losing the right to vote. This is because most of the common people do not know about the dangers of SIR.
ECI rules say that the elector’s father or mother should have voted in 2002 for their name to appear in the electoral roll in 2002. However, many people have no documents to prove this. In addition, ECI has not created wider awareness of SIR. This created chaos and panic among some communities. There are fears that election officials are targeting minority communities and tarnishing their names.
Second, the ECI itself has not undertaken any large-scale awareness program on SIR to clear doubts. Therefore, there is great confusion among the people. Many people think that SIR is a process to revoke their citizenship. In such a situation, the ruling Congress government should raise its voice and ensure that all apprehensions are allayed by putting pressure on the ECI,” he said.
“ECI says that a person’s father or mother should have voted for SIR in 2002 because their name should appear in the electoral roll in 2002. But many people may not get their documents. Secondly, ECI itself has not organized a large-scale awareness program about SIR to clear doubts. Because of this, there is a lot of confusion among people. Many people think that SIR is such a process in Congress to revoke SIR the government should raise its voice and ensure that all concerns are allayed by putting pressure on the ECI,” he said.
Published – 28 March 2026 20:35 IST
