Karnataka: After backlash, minister Satish Jarkiholi says his SIR remarks were misread

Bengaluru: State’s PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Friday sought to clarify his remarks on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls after they triggered embarrassment for the Congress ahead of the INDIA bloc's proposed protest in New Delhi on November 1.

Jarkiholi said his comments had been misinterpreted and maintained that he had not endorsed the SIR exercise. Instead, he said Karnataka had successfully thwarted attempts to remove Congress-supporting voters from electoral rolls through Form 7 applications.

The minister told the media that the alleged effort to delete eligible voters' names was countered through the intervention of AICC leader Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.


"In Karnataka, we successfully countered the attempt to delete the names of eligible voters via Form 7. This resistance began in Belagavi district," Jarkiholi said in a post on X, reiterating his opposition to any move to disenfranchise voters.

The clarification came a day after Jarkiholi appeared to defend the revision exercise, saying Karnataka had carried it out properly because of adequate training and groundwork and that other states should follow the model.

His remarks drew swift criticism from within the Congress government. Home Minister Priyank Kharge rejected the suggestion that the exercise had been free of irregularities and pointed to complaints from Kalaburagi and Vijayapura districts.

Kharge alleged that pre-filled Form 7 applications, used to seek deletion of voter names, had been submitted in bulk without verification. He also claimed that dozens of living persons in Vijayapura were shown as deceased in official records and had to personally approach authorities to restore their status.

The controversy comes as the Congress steps up its attack on the Election Commission over voter-roll revisions and prepares to join the INDIA bloc's protest against the exercise in Delhi.