Prakash Raj Announces 'Election Commission Chalo' March Over Voter Roll Concerns

Actor and national award winner Prakash Raj on Tuesday announced an 'Election Commission Chalo' campaign, set for September 1 in Bengaluru, on behalf of several civil society organisations in Karnataka. The groups are protesting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling the exercise "flawed" and "unscientific" and claiming that lakhs of eligible voters have been excluded from the draft rolls.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Raj said the organisations had decided to launch the campaign against the SIR process, citing serious discrepancies in how it was carried out. He confirmed that the groups would also approach courts to seek a halt to the process. "So this is a very big battle," he said.

The organisations involved include Eddelu Karnataka, Muslim Muthahade Mahaz, Namma Mata Namma Hakku Vedike, Active Bangalore and Nagarika Mata Kavalu Samithi.

"On the first of the month, we will start an Election Commission Chalo protest with the people of Karnataka who have been affected, the distressed voters. From tomorrow itself, there will be press conferences in every district," Raj said. He added that the civil society groups would engage with the Karnataka government and represent the concerns of affected voters before the Election Commission.

Raj alleged that the SIR process was carried out without adequate preparation, trained election officials, or proper communication with voters. He questioned the deletion of voters categorised as absent or permanently shifted, arguing that such voters should be given a reasonable opportunity to establish their continued eligibility rather than being required to re-enrol through Form 6.

He also criticised the scale and timeline of the exercise. "We have two years before the next Assembly election. You cannot complete this exercise involving more than five crore voters in one month. You should have announced it six months in advance," he said.

The campaign comes a day after Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar stated that Karnataka had more than 4.46 crore electors in the draft electoral rolls published on Monday following the SIR process. Data shared by the CEO's office shows that a total of 1,07,96,339 electors, or 19.48 per cent, have been marked under the ASDDO category. ASDDO covers voters classified as Absent, Shifted, Passed Away, Duplicate and Others. In Bengaluru Urban district, including within BBMP limits, there are 1,03,88,363 electors, of whom 46,82,703 are on the ASDDO list.

The organisations clarified in a statement that their concerns were not directed at Anbukkumar personally, who was tasked with implementing the SIR process, or at the Booth Level Officers who worked during the exercise.