Bengaluru: With the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls set to begin in Karnataka from June 20, Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) chief commissioner Maheshwar Rao, who is also the district election officer, announced that progress of the pre-SIR mapping exercise stands at 72% in the city.
Preparatory Activities Underway
As part of the preparatory activities for the SIR, the process of mapping the 2025 electoral rolls with those of 2002 is currently underway. Rao stated, 'Booth-level officers (BLOs) will be deployed in each of the 8,023 booths in Bengaluru, along with around 1,600 BLO supervisors.' He added that most of the BLOs will be government school teachers.
House-to-House Verification
The BLOs will begin house-to-house verification from June 30. This exercise will continue until July 27, after which the draft electoral roll will be published on August 5. Voters can file claims and objections until September 4, and the final electoral roll will be published on October 7.
As part of the revision process, BLOs will distribute enumeration forms that voters must fill and submit to ensure their names are retained in the upcoming draft electoral roll. If a resident is unavailable during a visit, the BLO can leave the form at the doorstep and make at least three attempts to collect the completed form. The forms will carry the name and contact details of the BLO to facilitate coordination with voters.
Political Parties Raise Concerns
A meeting was held with representatives of political parties regarding the SIR process, during which several functionaries raised concerns about incomplete mapping in the city. Arun Prasad A, state general secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party, noted, 'Karnataka's rural districts have achieved over 95% mapping, while it is only 70% in GBA limits. Without prior mapping, voters may have to produce documents during house-to-house visits. The process could have been simpler had officials mapped all voters in advance.'
Prabhu Bosco, general secretary of the National People's Party, suggested that corporations set up help desks to assist people with the SIR process. He said, 'Helpline numbers may not be effective as they will be flooded with queries. We need help desks in corporation offices or BangaloreOne centres where people can submit relevant documents or check their SIR status.'
