Bengaluru, 24 September

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday sought a fresh SIR of electoral rolls and called for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar amid a row over reported differences within the poll panel over decision-making process.

Speaking to reporters against the backdrop of a media report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times over the last 10 months, Shivakumar said the reported differences raised serious questions about the country's democratic system.

"Today, in the democratic system, two out of the three members have expressed their disagreement. The right to vote, which is meant to protect every individual and their livelihood, has today been compromised," he charged.

Shivakumar said the issue of alleged "Vote Chori" (vote theft) had been raised by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi from Bengaluru, and asserted that the right to vote belonged to every citizen.

He alleged that more than one crore names had been deleted from Karnataka's electoral rolls for various reasons.

He said he had sought more time for the exercise and that the finalisation of the state's voter list should precede any further action.

"Let our voter list be finalised. After that, whatever way we have to raise our voice and fight on this issue, I will certainly continue to do so," he said.

The chief minister also questioned the manner in which the Special Intensive Revision of voters' list was being conducted. He demanded that the process be scrapped and conducted afresh.

"We want a new SIR to be conducted. We want everyone to have their rights," he said, adding that the issue should be debated at length, including in the Parliament.

Referring to the reported dissent within the Election Commission, Shivakumar said, "When the (dissenting) voices are not accepted and the majority decision has not been upheld, he (CEC) can't take decisions."

Shivakumar called on the Chief Election Commissioner Kumar to "immediately step down".

He said the issue was not about votes belonging to any particular political party but about the franchise of every citizen.

"We are not talking about Congress votes, BJP votes or somebody else's votes. It is the right to vote for everyone, and it is the right to live," he said.

Reacting to the reported differences, the EC had asserted that differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution and all its orders "are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full Commission in the past one year."

However, ECI officials have said that the poll body was unanimous in its decisions related to the pan-India SIR of voters' list.