'Need street and house-wise mapping of voters to ensure accuracy': D K Shivakumar urges Karnataka poll body

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar has asked the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct a “comprehensive street-wise and house-wise mapping” of voters in Bengaluru to address “serious and widespread” errors in the electoral rolls.

In a petition to State Election Commissioner GS Sangreshi, Shivakumar said every street should be mapped to the correct polling station, every street to a house and every voter to the house.

“Such a Street-House-Voter mapping will ensure accuracy, prevent duplication and eliminate arbitrary shifting or deletion of voters,” Shivakumar, who is also the Bengaluru Urban Development minister, stated.

The SEC is preparing the electoral rolls under the Greater Bengaluru Area (GBA) for the impending elections to the five municipal corporations in the city. As per a Supreme Court directive, Bengaluru municipal elections should happen before June 30.

Shivakumar has flagged “numerous discrepancies” in the existing electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission: members of one family being allotted different polling stations, incorrect house numbers, duplicate/missing entries and “long-standing residents being deleted without notice”.

One of the discrepancies cited by Shivakumar is from the Padmanabhanagar constituency represented by Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka. “Voters of 6th cross, Anjaneya Temple Road, Ittamadu...have been totally excluded from the electoral rolls,” he stated.

Another discrepancy raised by Shivakumar is the use of an Aadhaar card as the photograph in the voter list.

“These errors are not isolated, but appear to be systemic,” Shivakumar stated, adding that such “alarming” discrepancies “seriously undermine the credibility of the electoral process.”

Shivakumar urged the SEC to order an “immediate special inquiry” and act against erring persons. He also sought a “rectification drive” so that “no eligible voter is denied their constitutional right to vote.”

Shivakumar's petition ties into the Congress' nationwide campaign against 'Vote Chori', accusing the EC of colluding with the BJP to manipulate polls.