Election Commission Chalo protest: Prakash Raj, several others detained by Bengaluru Police

BENGALURU: Actor and activist Prakash Raj and several members of several civil society groups were detained by Bengaluru Police during an ‘Election Commission Chalo’ protest march at Freedom Park Tuesday afternoon. The protesters were demonstrating against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, raising concerns over alleged flaws in the exercise.

Speaking to the media, Prakash Raj said, “SIR has to be scrapped. Karnataka will not sleep until it is scrapped. We will go to the court. We will fight for every citizen of this country”.

A large number of people turned up for the protest. Actor Kishore also participated in the demonstration.

Kishore said, “Transparency and the time required for such a huge process to happen. The basic intention behind the protest is that it is a basic right. Nobody has the right or the power to snatch away that right. So every eligible voter should be in the voter list. This fight will go on till every voter eligible to vote in India is registered in the voter list.”

Earlier, speaking to the media, Prakash Raj said, “Even before the SSR began, the process of selecting the Election Commission was undemocratic. With two members from the ruling party and only one from the opposition, where is the democracy in that? Furthermore, the government decided in Parliament to grant judicial immunity to the Election Commission, ensuring that no case can be filed against any officer for the rest of their lives. In a democratic system, judicial immunity is typically reserved for Supreme Court judges. Why extend it to an entire organisation? It creates a situation where they feel they can do anything without being held accountable.”

“For how many years will a voter of this country, a citizen, have to run after the courts? Why are you putting every voter in this country through so much trouble? And in Karnataka, there are still two years left; it’s not urgent. What was the need to do this in just one month? he added.

He questioned the deletion of voters marked as absent or permanently shifted, arguing that they should be given a fair opportunity to establish their eligibility rather than being asked to re-enrol through Form 6. This comes after the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) published the Draft Electoral Roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 exercise.

The draft roll was published after the completion of the enumeration process carried out between June 30 and August 17, 2026, through house-to-house verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) across the state. According to the CEO’s office, the draft electoral roll includes a total of 4,46,35,975 electors. The list comprises 2,24,73,864 female voters, 2,21,59,240 male voters and 2,871 third-gender electors.

The electoral roll also includes 44,176 service electors and 3,70,341 young voters in the 18-19 age group. During the enumeration exercise, 1,07,96,339 entries, accounting for 19.48 per cent of the total entries, were identified under the ASDDO categories — Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others.

The remaining 4.46 crore electors have been retained as the active voter base. However, within this group, 20.35 lakh electors have been flagged for anomalies, while 23.45 lakh voters have been placed under the NoMapping category.

The CEO’s office said that both categories, together accounting for over 43.8 lakh voters, will be issued notices and required to submit responses to confirm their eligibility and ensure their inclusion in the final electoral roll.

The qualifying date for the revision has been fixed as October 1, 2026. The period for filing claims and objections will continue from August 24 to September 23, 2026, after which the final electoral roll will be published on October 27, 2026.

The CEO’s office has appealed to citizens to verify their details in the draft roll and submit claims or objections within the given timeframe to ensure accurate inclusion of their names in the final list. (ANI)