KPCC Chief Doubts Lapses In Electoral Rolls, Demands Corrective Measures From Elections Commission

BENGALUR: Bengaluru in-charge and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday asked the State Election Commission to initiate corrective measures against large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls and arbitrary shifting of members of the same family to different polling booths in various Assembly segments in the Greater Bengaluru District.

Karnataka State Election Commission, Bengaluru, Shivakumar and also the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), in his complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner, came to the attention of the Election Commission stating that a significant number of genuine voters were excluded from the lists without due notification or verification.

In his complaint, Shivakumar stated that in many cases, members of the same family residing at the same address were assigned to different polling stations and even different segments in the Assembly constituency, leading to confusion, inconvenience and potentially disenfranchisement.

He called on the Electoral Commissioner to conduct a comprehensive audit of the recent deletions in the voter rolls in the affected Assembly constituencies in the GBA.

The KPCC chairman asked the Commission to bring back all the eligible voters who were mistakenly deleted after carrying out due verification and also ensure that political parties review and verify the revised lists before final publication.

He later told reporters: “The State Election Commission is revising the voter lists. There are many shortcomings in the revised list.”

He continued: “In view of the upcoming local elections, the voters’ list also needs to be revised now. If something goes wrong in the voters’ list, it will give the State Government and the Election Commission a bad name.”