SIR in Karnataka | Ruling Congress, BJP to intensify booth-level monitoring; former keeps a cautious eye out

Bengaluru: Congress and BJP are relying on their booth-level agents (BLA) to ensure the Special Invasive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka does not harm their respective political interests.

The Election Commission (EC) has announced that the SIR process in Karnataka will start from June 20. The last SIR in the state was done in 2002 when the state had 3.55 crore voters. Now, the state has 5.55 crore voters. The final electoral roll will be published on October 7.

Congress is wary of the exercise, particularly after SIR in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh stirred a controversy.

“The aim of SIR is to see that Scheduled Caste, backward classes and minority votes are cut. We’ll ensure they’re protected. Everyone born in India should have their rights,” Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said.

There was pressure on the Congress government to not allow the SIR to take place in the state. However, a decision like this is off the table. The government’s focus will be on ensuring there is no foul play during SIR.

According to Government Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, Congress has been preparing for the SIR over the past one year. “We’ve held training sessions for all our BLAs. They have been asked to stay alert and monitor the electoral roll revision,” he said, adding that observers have been appointed in all constituencies. “The BJP has made EC its toolkit. The focus seems to be more on excluding voters instead of inclusion,” he added.

The BJP has been training its cadre on SIR during the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Prashikshan Maha Abhiyan camps. Workers have been asked to devote 100 days and ensure that the party’s supporters are not removed from the electoral rolls.

BJP state president BY Vijayendra described the SIR as “a golden opportunity” for his party to ensure illegal aliens are removed from the electoral rolls.

“We will closely follow the SIR process in all constituencies where committees will be formed,” Vijayendra said, adding that his party’s BLAs were trained.

Both parties said they had appointed BLA-2 as well. While the main BLA works with the incumbent MLA or the contesting candidate, as the case may be, BLA-2 manages electoral activities at the booth-level.