Published Oct 30, 2026 | 5:05 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 30, 2026 | 5:37 PM
Jarkiholi said he was referring to the Congress's fight against alleged attempts to delete eligible voters.
Karnataka Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Friday, October 30, clarified his remarks regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state and claimed that his statements had been misinterpreted.
The minister’s clarification followed criticism over his remarks, allegedly defending the SIR exercise in Karnataka.
Jarkiholi said he was referring to the Congress’s fight against alleged attempts to delete eligible voters through Form 7 applications, and not endorsing the SIR exercise.
In a statement posted on X, Jarkiholi said, “My statement to the media regarding SIR has been misinterpreted. My intention was to say that the BJP’s conspiracy to delete the names of Congress-supporting voters from Karnataka’s electoral rolls through Form 7 was foiled through the struggle of our national leader Rahul Gandhi and under the guidance of CM D.K Shivakumar. However, I did not make any statement suggesting that the SIR process itself was correct.”
“In Karnataka, we successfully foiled attempts to delete the names of eligible voters through Form 7. We began this fight from the Belagavi district and successfully countered these attempts,” he added.
Reiterating his position regarding the SIR, the minister said, “My stand against any attempt to deprive eligible voters of their rights has been firm from the beginning. I strongly oppose attempts to illegally remove the names of eligible voters from the electoral rolls.”
The row was triggered by Jarkiholi’s statements during a media interaction on October 29. Speaking on the alleged irregularities in the SIR, he said, “We are not talking about Karnataka. We are talking about other states such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar.”
“There have been so many protests and controversies here, but the process has been conducted properly in Karnataka. Our argument is that the same should happen in other states as well,” he said.
Appearing to defend the deletion of names from the electoral rolls, the minister said those removed were either deceased, had shifted residence or had duplicate registrations.
His remarks drew a response from Home Minister Priyank Kharge, who said, “Not sure what information Mr Jarkiholi has.”
Kharge cited an instance in Chittapur where 40 voters from one community were allegedly targeted through Form 7 applications. He alleged that pre-printed forms had been submitted in bulk seeking voter deletion.
“The person who had submitted the Form 7, he did not know why he had done that, and all they said is it has come from the top. So, that’s a very clear indication that this is a conspiracy theory that has its roots all over the place,” he said.
Nearly one crore voters were struck off Karnataka’s electoral rolls, according to the final voter list published after the SIR on October 27. As many as 99.32 lakh voters have been deleted from the state’s voter list, reducing the total electorate from 5.54 crore before the exercise to around 4.55 crore.
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
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