Bengaluru, Oct 30 (PTI) Karnataka Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Friday said that his remarks on the SIR exercise a day ago had been misunderstood and that he was referring to alleged attempts to delete Congress voters’ names through Form-7 applications in other states.
He also claimed that around 17,000 voters’ names had been deleted in his M Kanma Assembly constituency, but said the revised electoral rolls were yet to reach him.
Jarkiholi’s remarks at a press conference on Thursday were seen as an endorsement of the SIR exercise in Karnataka, prompting the BJP to target the Congress and Rahul Gandhi.
He said the SIR exercise in Karnataka was conducted properly because of the Congress’s protests and training, and argued that it should be carried out in the same manner in other states.
State BJP president B Y Vijayendra accused Rahul Gandhi of pursuing a campaign against SIR despite a senior Congress leader acknowledging the validity of the exercise.
Home Minister Priyank Kharge questioned the basis of Jarkiholi’s remarks and cited alleged irregularities involving bulk pre-printed Form-7 applications in Kalaburagi and Vijayapura.
Form-7 is used to file objections to the proposed inclusion or deletion of names from the existing electoral roll.
In a video message posted on ‘X’, Jarkiholi said his remarks were not intended to endorse the deletion of voters. “What I was trying to say was that attempts were being made in other states to steal Congress votes through Form-7 applications.”
“My statement on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Thursday’s press conference has been misunderstood. The media fraternity had asked me several questions, and my response has been misconstrued,” he said.
He claimed that the party, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and the guidance of Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, was trying to prevent the BJP from making further attempts to delete voters’ names through Form-7 applications.
On the deletion of voters’ names in M Kanma Assembly constituency, Jarkiholi said, “Once we get them (revised electoral rolls), we will verify whether these voters have actually shifted elsewhere, died, or whether there are duplicate entries. Only after examining these details, I will give a clear explanation before you,” he said. PTI GMS KH
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