Bengaluru, 29 October

After senior Congress Minister Satish Jarkiholi said that the SIR process in Karnataka was done in the “right manner”, the BJP noted the irony in Rahul Gandhi’s stance and the PwD Minister’s statement. 

Jarkiholi on Wednesday had said that due to the Congress’ protests, the SIR in Karnataka was not conducted as it was in places like West Bengal and Maharashtra. Notably, just a little under 1 crore voters were deleted in Karnataka, or over 17 per cent of the State’s pre-roll electorate – the highest so far in the country. Jarkiholi appeared to say that those deleted were all dead, shifted or absent.  

"The irony is hard to miss! Senior Congress leader and Minister Satish Jarkiholi himself contradicts Rahul Gandhi's narrative and acknowledges the validity of the SIR process,” State BJP President BY Vijayendra stated on X.    

However, the Congress in Karnataka appeared to distance itself from Jarkiholi’s statements. 

Speaking to reporters, Home Minister Priyank Kharge noted that the Congress has been raising questions about the mass filings of Form 7 applications, but has not received a satisfactory response yet. 

“I'm not sure what information Jarkiholi has. For example, in Chittapur, in a single booth, 40 people were targeted who were from a single community,” he said. 

Priyank noted that 40-50 people had been declared dead in Vijayapura, but these people had gone to the DC’s office saying, “we’re not dead”.