{"id":195304,"date":"2026-02-19T17:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=195304"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T12:56:36","slug":"electoral-genocide-civil-society-coalition-urges-karnataka-govt-to-oppose-voter-roll-revision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/02\/19\/electoral-genocide-civil-society-coalition-urges-karnataka-govt-to-oppose-voter-roll-revision.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Electoral genocide\u2019: Civil society coalition urges Karnataka govt to oppose voter roll revision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-195305\" src=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-19-at-5.46.45-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"472\" height=\"279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-19-at-5.46.45-PM.png 472w, https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-19-at-5.46.45-PM-372x220.png 372w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 472px) 100vw, 472px\" \/>Bengaluru: A coalition of activists and civil society organizations under the banner \u201cMy Vote, My Right\u201d has urged the Congress-led Karnataka government to formally oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning that the process could lead to large-scale exclusion of vulnerable communities from voter lists.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kashmir Media Service, at a press conference in Bengaluru, members of the collective criticized both the design and implementation of the SIR exercise, saying it has raised concerns in several states and union territories where it has been rolled out. They also flagged issues with the ongoing voter roll mapping exercise in Karnataka.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition demanded that the State government pass a resolution against the SIR in both the Assembly and the Council during the upcoming budget session. They called on the Congress government to take a clear and firm stand against what they described as a process that risks mass disenfranchisement.<\/p>\n<p>Clifton D\u2019Rozario, National Vice President of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions, argued that the revision process is arbitrary and inconsistently applied across states. \u201cThey are making it as difficult as possible for people to get on the electoral rolls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Activist and writer Sripad Bhat questioned the stringent documentation requirements under the SIR framework, arguing that the structure of the process appears designed to exclude many citizens.<\/p>\n<p>Mavalli Shankar, State Convenor of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti \u2013 Ambedkarvada, described the SIR as a threat to constitutional safeguards. \u201cIt is nothing but electoral genocide,\u201d he said, and urged the Congress government in Karnataka to take a clear stand.<\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s rights activist Mamatha Yajaman of Naaveddu Nilladidre expressed concern that women, especially those who relocate after marriage, could face difficulties under the mapping exercise. \u201cThe SIR blatantly threatens the constitutional guarantee of equality to women and must be strongly opposed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Nisha Gulur of the Movement for Gender and Sexual Pluralism highlighted that many in the transgender community may struggle to produce documentation or trace earlier records due to displacement from families.<\/p>\n<p>The coalition reiterated that transparency, safeguards against arbitrary deletions, and broad consultations with stakeholders are essential to protect citizens\u2019 fundamental right to vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bengaluru: A coalition of activists and civil society organizations under the banner \u201cMy Vote, My Right\u201d has urged the Congress-led Karnataka government to formally oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning that the process could lead to large-scale exclusion of vulnerable communities from voter lists. According to Kashmir Media Service, at a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-19-at-5.46.45-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195308,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195304\/revisions\/195308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}