Kumaraswamy questions Karnataka CEO's denial on SIR 'group enrolments'

Bengaluru: Union Steel & Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday questioned the Karnataka’s top election commission of India (ECI) official’s stand that group enrolments were not taking place in the state.

"I have seen the Chief Electoral Officer's (V Anbukumar) statement claiming that SIR was not conducted by gathering people in groups. Minister Pralhad Joshi and I led a delegation and submitted a complaint along with documentary evidence. We provided evidence of SIR being conducted by assembling people in groups in Ramanagara, Yeshwanthpur and several other places," Kumaraswamy told a media conference in Bengaluru.

Also Read: Karnataka: EC issues notice to 35 BLOs for SIR lapses


If the SIR process was being conducted properly, why did the CEO’s office issue notices to 35 booth level officers (BLOs), the union minister asked, referring to the notices issued to officials on charges of deviating from the ECI guidelines while conducting voter enumeration.

On Wednesday, Anbukumar denied allegations of mass distribution of enumeration forms on a large scale.

The NDA has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to order fresh enumeration in parts of Karnataka where it alleged the Congress government had engineered irregularities during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.