DKS Claims SIR Exercise Aimed At Removing Votes Of Poor Citizens

(MENAFN- IANS) Bengaluru, May 22 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar on Friday alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process to remove the votes of poor people and said Congress workers had been alerted to remain vigilant.

Speaking to reporters near his residence in Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru, Shivakumar said awareness was being created among legislators and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) regarding the SIR process.

“We are conducting meetings to create awareness about the SIR process among MLAs and BLAs. Dates have already been announced and, therefore, we are taking up awareness initiatives. Every individual has to submit an application, otherwise citizens may lose their voting rights,” he said.

Claiming that similar incidents had taken place in other states, he said the loss of voting rights could also affect access to welfare benefits.

“If citizens lose their voting rights, they may also be deprived of benefits such as pension schemes and the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. Hence, we are focusing on creating awareness among the public,” he added.

Responding to a question on the Karnataka government's decision to withdraw alleged criminal cases against Muslims, Shivakumar said only politically motivated cases had been withdrawn.

“Politically motivated cases have been withdrawn. Cases filed against farmers and Kannada activists had also been withdrawn earlier. There is nothing wrong in this,” he said.

It may be recalled that Karnataka Law and Tourism Minister H.K. Patil on Thursday said the state government would make every possible effort to protect the voting rights of citizens if any process unnecessarily deprived them of their franchise.

Addressing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Patil said extensive discussions were held regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.

He alleged that the SIR process had led to the deletion of voting rights of nearly 27 lakh people in states such as West Bengal and raised concerns over the transparency and implementation of the exercise.

“If any process unnecessarily deprives a citizen of his or her voting rights, the government will consider taking all possible measures to safeguard that right,” Patil said.

The minister said the Cabinet discussed alleged irregularities, shortcomings and serious objections surrounding the SIR process.

He added that the government was also considering approaching the Supreme Court over the issue.

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