Following an order issued by the Karnataka State Election Commission dated June 19, which announced a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in select wards within the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, has written to the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer, V. Anbu Kumar, seeking intervention over what he argued as a “parallel and conflicting” revision exercise. 

In his letter dated June 25, Mr. Narayanaswamy flagged the SEC’s decision to conduct a separate revision in specific GBA wards while a nationwide revision exercise ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI) is already underway. 

According to the SEC order, the Commission has decided to revise electoral rolls in select wards across three GBA corporations. This covers 23 wards in East Corporation, one ward in South Corporation, and three wards in Central Corporation. The SEC, as per the order, took this decision after receiving objections from political parties and members of the public regarding voter lists prepared for the 2026 municipal elections.  

Mr. Narayanaswamy noted that the ECI had already announced SIR for Karnataka under Phase III. As part of it, electoral rolls were frozen on June 16 to ensure uniform revision of voter data. He pointed out that the SEC’s separate exercise in selected wards overlaps with the SIR, both of which involve house-to-house verification and voter roll updates within a short and overlapping timeframe.

The letter argued that this could lead to confusion among voters due to repeated verification visits and overlapping deadlines, as well as duplication of administrative effort involving Booth Level Officers and other field staff.