A political row has started in Karnataka after the Congress party raised concerns about the scale of voter deletions in the state’s draft electoral rolls. The draft rolls were published following a Special Intensive Revision exercise by the Election Commission. According to figures from the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, more than 1.07 crore names—about 19 percent of the electorate—were moved to a category for voters who are absent, shifted, deceased, duplicates, or under other exclusions. This includes over 65 lakh marked as permanently shifted, more than 16 lakh recorded as dead, upwards of 15 lakh listed as absent, and roughly 7 lakh flagged as duplicates.
Senior Congress leader K C Venugopal stated that the party was surprised by the scale of deletions and accused the Election Commission of failing to adequately respond to opposition concerns. He argued that the removals did not look natural and suggested the commission was deliberately obscuring information. Election officials responded by clarifying that inclusion in the exclusion category is not a permanent deletion, and that no name is removed without prior notice and a chance to be heard.
Voters left off the draft list can file claims and objections from late August through September 23, either in person with local registration officers or through the Election Commission’s online portal and mobile application. Political parties receive weekly updates on these claims, and the final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on October 27. This dispute adds Karnataka to a growing list of states where opposition parties have questioned the transparency of the revision exercise.