Karnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi denies defending SIR

Satish Jarkiholi, PWD Minister of Karnataka and Congress leader

Satish Jarkiholi, minister and Congress leader, has clarified that he never defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka. He claimed his remarks were misquoted and taken out of context.

Following a press meet in Bengaluru on October 29, the minister was quoted as saying that he had found nothing wrong with SIR and that the Congress party had raised objections to the exercise in other States but not in Karnataka.

The Minister issued a statement on October 30, saying his remarks were misunderstood.

“While responding to questions from the media, I had said that under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and the guidance of Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, measures have been taken to prevent such attempts, that were allegedly orchestrated by the BJP, to delete names of eligible voters. I had only said that the objections raised by Congress leaders against the misuse of Form 7 were addressed by the authorities. The issue was concerning the alleged misuse in Belagavi district, and a police case was registered in connection with it. The media has also reported the police investigation into the issue,” he said.

“We have discovered that around 17,000 – 25,000 votes were deleted from the electoral roll in the Yamakanamardi Assembly constituency that I represent. Our team is conducting a comprehensive review of the new electoral rolls. We are also waiting for the final electoral list of all constituencies that will be prepared following court judgments, and changes to some rules. We are concerned about the deletion of names of migrant workers and young students who have moved to other cities for studies. If their names are missing from one place, they should reflect in other places. All such issues need to be fixed,” he said.