Bengaluru: The final voter list has been released in Karnataka under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) announced this on Tuesday. During this process, approximately 99.32 lakh names were removed from the state’s voter list.
According to the final voter list, Karnataka now has a total of 4.55 crore voters, compared to 5.54 crore before the SIR campaign began. This represents a significant decrease in the number of voters after the revision.
2.29 Crore Female Voters in Final List
According to the released data, the final voter list for Karnataka includes approximately 2.25 crore male and 2.29 crore female voters.
In addition, the list includes over 6.83 lakh voters aged between 18 and 19 years. Meanwhile, the number of voters above 85 years of age is over 3.92 lakh.
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar emphasizes voter safety
After the release of the final voter list, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that his government will take necessary steps to protect the interests of the state’s voters.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said, “It is the duty of the Karnataka government and the party to protect voters.”
Congress raises questions about SIR
The Congress party has consistently criticized the SIR campaign. Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has approached the Supreme Court, demanding a ban on the campaign and the suspension of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. He has raised the issue of alleged irregularities during the campaign.
In addition to Rahul Gandhi, other leaders of the opposition alliance INDIA have also filed petitions in the Supreme Court regarding this matter.
Supreme Court seeks response from Election Commission
Hearing Rahul Gandhi’s petition, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Election Commission seeking its response regarding the SIR campaign.
The Election Commission’s response and further judicial proceedings in this matter will now be closely monitored.