Awareness march against SIR starts in Bidar

A public awareness march opposing the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was flagged off at Ambedkar Circle in Bidar on Saturday.

The march is part of a State-wide campaign being organised from five locations across the State.

The campaign, led by Eddelu Karnataka, progressive organisations and the Karnataka Anti-SIR Committee, will travel through all districts of the Kalyana Karnataka region from June 13 to June 20. The march is scheduled to culminate at a large public convention at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on June 20.

Launching the march, Eddelu Karnataka leader J.M. Veerasangayya said that the Special Intensive Revision process has led to the disenfranchisement of lakhs of eligible voters across the country by depriving them of their constitutional right to vote.

“Now that SIR has been introduced in Karnataka, no eligible voter should be excluded under any circumstances,” he said.

Mr. Veerasangayya urged the Election Commission not to apply what he described as an “unscientific logical deletion” criterion in the State. He called upon the State government to convene Gram Sabha meetings and ensure that citizens lacking the necessary documents are provided with them immediately.

“No conspiracy should be allowed to exclude voters from the electoral rolls merely due to the absence of minor information or documentation,” he said.

Addressing the gathering, Satyadevi of Basava Mantapa, CPI leader Baburao Honna, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti leader Maruti Bauddhe, KPCC Women’s Wing State vice-president Rajashree Swamy and Aam Aadmi Party district president Siddappa Phulari asserted that voting is a constitutional right and that any attempt to curtail this right will be strongly opposed.

They described the SIR exercise as “anti-democratic” and “anti-people” demanding its withdrawal and warning against excluding eligible voters from electoral rolls in the name of revision.

The speakers also said that the SIR process is unconstitutional, unscientific, flawed and driven by ulterior motives. They expressed concern that under the guise of electoral rolls revision, the voting rights of poor people, workers, minorities, sexual minorities and other marginalised groups can be weakened.

Eddelu Karnataka coordinators Omprakash Rotte, Jagadishwar Biradar, Nizamuddin, Lakshman Mandalgera, Durgesh and members of the Anti-SIR Committee were present.