Shortly after the announcement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka, the issue is expected to come up before the State Cabinet on May 21. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a closed-door meeting on Wednesday in this regard. This will be the first time that the Congress government in Karnataka is formally discussing the SIR and its implications at the Cabinet level.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, IT/BT, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, Tourism and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H. K. Patil and MLA A.S. Ponnanna.

Ministers said the discussions centred on how the SIR exercise has unfolded in other States, allegations of mass disenfranchisement linked to the process, the legality of the exercise, and what role the State government can play to ensure that the exercise remains inclusive rather than exclusionary. 

What legal basis?

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Kharge said the issue would be raised in the Cabinet and maintained that while the government was not opposed to any form of electoral revision, the “special” revision lacked a legal basis. He said that despite claims that the exercise is inclusive, developments in other states suggested otherwise.

“Discrepancies, logical discrepancies — what do these terms even mean? We are not against revision, but citizenship and voting rights cannot hinge on simple errors. We have also seen how Forms 6 and 7 are misused during the claims and objections stage,” he said. He added that the government would discuss what steps could be taken to ensure the exercise “remains only a revision.”

“For someone who has been voting for years, a single spelling mistake or minor errors cannot decide citizenship. If there is an error, the solution is to allow correction,” Mr. Ponnanna said.

He argued that there was no clear legal basis for “logical discrepancies” and the category invites arbitrary deletions and disenfranchisement. “There cannot be a perceived notion about voters based on which lines are drawn on who stays and who goes. Dead and duplicate voters should certainly be identified, but the exercise has no authority to declare an elector as a foreign national,” he said.

State’s options

Ministers said the meeting also discussed what options were available to the government politically and legally, and to what extent the State could intervene or respond to the SIR process.