Karnataka chief minister backs call for election commissioner’s resignation amid roll-revision controversy

Chief Minister D K Shivakumar publicly endorsed calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign, criticizing the perceived political exploitation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Karnataka’s electoral rolls. While affirming the necessity of the revision, Shivakumar warned that eligible voters should not be disenfranchised. He noted that opposition parties are entitled to question the CEC’s conduct.

According to the chief electoral officer, more than 95% of the SIR notices have been delivered and inquiries on roughly 69% of them are resolved. The process has generated thousands of addition, deletion, and verification applications, with a final hearing slated for October 12 and a deadline for completing all notices by October 22. In Belagavi, Congress leaders allege that large numbers of Form 7 deletion requests were used to target Muslim voters, prompting calls for an Election Commission inquiry, while a local BJP MLA denied wrongdoing.