Karnataka Minister meets protesters, promises to highlight concerns and ask ECI for extension of SIR deadline

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka. The Minister assured the protesters that he would discuss their concerns with the CM who would place their demands before the CEO. | Photo Credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J

Under pressure from protesters demanding extension of the deadline for disposal of notices issued under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka, Minister Ramalinga Reddy went to Freedom Park in Bengaluru on September 1 and promised that the State Government would take up their demands with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka.

Civil society groups, led by actor Prakash Raj, were protesting against, what they termed, high number of deletions during SIR draft roll and the tight deadline for disposal of notices. The protesters had demanded that the Congress-led government in Karnataka meet the CEO and represent their concerns to the Election Commission.

How did over 1 crore Karnataka voters end up in ASDDO category? | Explained

They gave the State Government an hour to send a representative to meet the CEO, saying they would continue and intensify the protest if their demands were not addressed.

Mr. Reddy, who arrived at the protest site following a demand by the protesters, said Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had sent him on behalf of the State Government. He assured the protesters that he would discuss their concerns with the CM who would place their demands before the CEO.

He said the Congress government was cautious about the SIR exercise after seeing what happened during the elections in West Bengal.

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.