BENGALURU: Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy of the BJP has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately halt what he termed a “parallel, unauthorised and conflicting” Special Intensive Revision (SIR) initiated by the State Election Commission (SEC).
In a letter to Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar, Narayanaswamy said the ECI has mandated a statewide SIR, freezing assembly constituency-wise electoral rolls from June 16 to maintain data integrity. However, the SEC has allegedly launched a separate SIR in 27 wards of Gandhinagar and Mahadevapura assembly constituencies. It has plans to conduct field operations from June 26.
“Citing complaints at the local level, the SEC has ordered an independent and parallel SIR by freezing its own rolls for 27 wards in Gandhinagar and Mahadevapura assembly constituencies as of April 18, 2026,’’ he said.
Narayanswamy said conducting two simultaneous voter-verification exercises in the same electorate will create confusion among voters and lead to repeated visits to houses by officials.
Citing provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, Narayanaswamy said the authority to revise electoral rolls is with electoral registration officers designated by the ECI. He questioned the SEC’s decision to conduct a separate revision while the ECI’s process is under way.
He urged the ECI to invoke its powers under Article 324 and direct the SEC to suspend the parallel exercise.
“The SEC must be directed to merge their grievances or findings with the ECI’s statewide SIR from June 30 to ensure administrative uniformity, fiscal responsibility, and public clarity,’’ he said.