SIR begins amid political scrutiny; BJP, Congress deploy booth-level teams

Dharwad,

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls commenced across Dharwad district on Tuesday amid heightened political activity, with both the BJP and the Congress deploying their Booth Level Agents (BLA-2s) to monitor the exercise and assist voters as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) began door-to-door distribution of enumeration forms.

The revision exercise, undertaken by the Election Commission of India, is aimed at updating electoral rolls by removing the names of deceased persons, duplicate entries and ineligible voters, while ensuring that all eligible voters remain on the rolls. BLOs have begun visiting households to verify voter details, including names, addresses and other particulars, before updating the information through a dedicated application.

According to district officials, Dharwad district has 16,21,961 voters spread across its seven Assembly constituencies. Of these, the mapping of 15,92,152 voters (98.65 per cent) has already been completed. The district has 1,665 polling stations, with one BLO appointed for each booth, assisted by Assistant BLOs.

Political parties have also appointed their own Booth Level Agents (BLA-2s) to coordinate with election officials and assist voters during the revision process. The exercise has, however, triggered a political debate, with the Congress expressing apprehensions that eligible voters could be omitted from the electoral rolls due to errors during the verification process.

The party has launched a statewide awareness campaign and instructed its district, block and booth-level units to ensure that every voter participates in the exercise. As part of its strategy, the Congress has established booth-level help desks under the banner "Congress Walks Towards Protecting Your Vote" and set up helplines and district war rooms to address voter grievances and coordinate with Booth Level Agents.

The party has directed its BLA 2 workers to accompany BLOs during house visits, assist voters in filling the enumeration forms and maintain records of the forms submitted. Dharwad Rural District Congress President Anil Kumar Patil said the party had appointed a BLA-2 for every booth and provided them with training before the commencement of the exercise.

Help desks have been opened at multiple locations in each Assembly constituency and helplines have been activated to assist voters facing difficulties during the verification process. Hubballi-Dharwad City District Congress President Altaf Hallur said nearly half of the voters at several booths had already received enumeration forms and, so far, no complaints had been reported.

He said Congress workers were maintaining constant contact with district leaders to monitor the exercise. Congress leader and SIR in-charge for Dharwad district Shakir Sanadi alleged that similar revision exercises in other states had led to the deletion of a large number of voter names. He expressed concern that spelling discrepancies, language-related errors and documentation is sues could particularly affect illiterate voters, minorities, Dalits and married women whose names or surnames may have changed.

He urged the Election Commission to ensure that the revision is conducted fairly and transparently so that no eligible voter is left out. Election officials, however, have dismissed concerns that genuine voters would be removed arbitrarily. They clarified that names would not be deleted solely be cause of minor discrepancies and said eligible voters would have opportunities to raise objections and submit supporting documents even after the draft electoral rolls are published.

Officials appealed to voters to cooperate with BLOs and provide accurate information and documents during the verification process. The BJP has also mobilised its organisational network to monitor the revision exercise. Former Chief Minister and MP Basavaraj Bommai urged BJP BLA-2 workers to remain vigilant and accompany BLOs to ensure that Form 6 reaches every eligible voter.

He alleged that there could be discrimination in the distribution of forms and appealed to party workers to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls. Echoing the party's preparedness, BJP City District President Tippanna Majjagi said the revision process was progressing smoothly and that members of his own family had completed the formalities without difficulty. He said the BJP h ad deployed BLA-2 workers at every booth and submitted their details to the district administration. He also appealed to voters to ap proach BJP workers if they required assistance during the exercise.