Members of the Forum of Anti-SIR Parties and Organisations taking out a protest march in Kalaburagi on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI
Members of the Forum of Anti-SIR Parties and Organisations, a coalition of political parties and progressive organisations opposed to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, staged a protest march and demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kalaburagi on Saturday.The protesters alleged that the ongoing SIR process was unconstitutional, anti-democratic and discriminatory towards vulnerable sections of society. Raising slogans against the exercise, they claimed that the revision process treated citizens as “suspects” and could deprive large sections of people of their voting rights.In a memorandum submitted through the district administration to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the forum contended that the SIR exercise has disproportionately affected women, migrant workers, nomadic and tribal communities, Dalits, minorities and other marginalised groups. The protesters alleged that similar exercises conducted in other States had resulted in the deletion of a large number of eligible voters from electoral rolls.“We are not opposed to the revision of electoral rolls per se, but objected to a flawed and non-transparent implementation of the SIR process. We demand that the ECI refrain from using the ‘logical discrepancy’ method for identifying voters, arguing that minor discrepancies in spelling or dates should not become grounds for disenfranchisement,” activist Bhimrao T.T. said during the protest.Among the key demands raised by the forum were publication of draft electoral rolls in a computer-readable format, mandatory public scrutiny of draft rolls through gram sabhas and ward meetings, a longer timeline for verification and appeals, and special provisions to ensure that women, migrants, students, tribal communities, Dalits, minorities and other vulnerable groups are not excluded from the electoral process.“If these democratic safeguards were not incorporated, we will intensify our agitation across Karnataka. We assure full cooperation in the electoral roll revision process if the suggested changes were adopted,” Sunil Manpade, another leader of the forum, said.Those who participated in the protest included Mailari Doddamani, Renuka Singe, Shaheenaz Akhtar, Nilambika, Chandrika Parameshwar, Shekhar Singh, Saleem Ahmed, Anuradha Ninne, Balaji Kamble, Sangeeta, Vaishali, Anita Kuruba, Sangamesh Kalaburagi and Hanamant Manpade.Protest_Against_SIR_(2) Published - May 30, 2026 07:00 pm IST
