Actor-filmmaker Prakash Raj on Tuesday announced a protest march in Karnataka over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
This cane after the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Monday published the Draft Electoral Roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 exercise. “For how many years will a voter of this country, a citizen, have to run after the courts?
Announcing the “Election Commission Chalo” campaign in Bengaluru on September 1, Raj said civil society organisations would march against the SIR of electoral rolls and raised concerns over its alleged flaws, ANI news agency reported. Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar too said the exercise had “thrown up alarming numbers”, with over 1.08 crore voters marked as ASDDO (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate, and Others). CEC Kumar lauded the cooperation of voters in the exercise, which he said had earned SIR earn recognition from other countries as well. Prakash Raj, while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, said that civil society groups also planned to move the courts to seek a stay on the SIR exercise in Karnataka. Why are you putting every voter in this country through so much trouble?” he said. Raj said that Karnataka had another two years left for polls, adding the exercise was “not urgent. The actor further questioned the process of selection of members of the Election Commission, calling it “undemocratic.”
“With two members from the ruling party and only one from the opposition, where is the democracy in that?
Furthermore, the government decided in Parliament to grant judicial immunity to the Election Commission, ensuring that no case can be filed against any officer for the rest of their lives,” he said, according to ANI.
