Karnataka: EC issues notice to 35 BLOs for SIR lapses

Bengaluru: The election commission of India (ECI) has issued notices to about 35 BLOs (booth level officers) in Karnataka on charges of deviating from the ECI guidelines they must follow while doing voter enumeration as part of the special intensive revision (SIR).

They face the charge of holding mass enumeration campaigns instead of vising individual houses, chief electoral officer (CEO) V Anbukumar told mediapersons.

He, however, ruled out ordering re-verification of voters, while adding that his office has forwarded all complaints received to the ECI. The Opposition BJP and JDS met chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi on Tuesday, seeking a fresh round of enumeration in places they suspected had been vitiated by manipulation of the ruling Congress.


The CEO denied allegations of mass distribution of enumeration forms on a large scale. Their own inquiries revealed that people gathered in groups on their own. His office had strictly told the BLOs that they must issue forms only to houses, Anbukumar said.

The BLOs will continue to discharge their SIR duty as per the guidelines of the ECI, he said, rejecting allegations of taking orders from the state government. Anbukumar added that the BLOs have completed distribution of forms to four fifths of the households across the 224 assembly constituencies in the State.