Karnataka: Congress Minister Satish Jarkiholi hails SIR even as Rahul Gandhi claims it is being used for ‘vote Chori’

Karnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi publicly endorsed the SIR.
Karnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi (The Hindu)

In a major political embarrassment for Rahul Gandhi, who has been casting aspersions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, Karnataka Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi publicly endorsed the exercise that was conducted in Karnataka.

Speaking to the media about the SIR conducted in Congress-ruled Karnataka, the minister said that the exercise was done right in the state. Jarkiholi defended the electoral revision in Karnataka even as his party has been calling for the cancellation of the SIR exercise undertaken by the Election Commission across various states.

“The SIR in Karnataka was done right because of our protests and training. Our argument is that SIR should have happened in the same manner in other states,” the Minister said, adding that his party has been opposing the SIR undertaken in other states. “Our grouse is against the SIR that was done in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar,” he said.

Jarkiholi’s remarks regarding the SIR stirred a political debate as they contradict the stance taken by the Congress Party against the SIR. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with the Opposition parties, has been questioning the legitimacy of the SIR, calling it unconstitutional and alleging that the exercise was undertaken to enable the Modi government to steal votes. A batch of petitions was filed by those opposing the SIR, including several Opposition leaders, in the Supreme Court challenging its constitutional validity.

Contradicting his party’s stance, a Karnataka Minister upheld the legitimacy of the SIR exercise and said that it should have been done properly in other states. Jarkiholi said that during the SIR exercise in Karnataka, names of dead and duplicate voters were removed from the electoral roll and that it should have been conducted the same way in other states. He clarified that his party’s opposition to the SIR was regarding the electoral revision conducted in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar.

Jarkiholi’s statement defending the SIR came the same day Karnataka Congress president B K Hariprasad criticised the final voter list published by the Election Commission after the SIR in Karnataka. “One crore voters have been left out. Our agitation is against this,” Hariprasad said.

Notably, the Opposition has launched a countrywide campaign against the SIR exercise, alleging that the Election Commission acted in connivance with the Modi government to remove valid voters from the list to help it win elections.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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