Congress Seeks DC's Intervention Over Alleged SIR Lapses In DK
D'Souza also alleged that in several areas, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were merely distributing enumeration forms instead of visiting houses and collecting details as required
Mangaluru: The Congress delegation led by MLC Ivan D’Souza raised concerns over the manner in which the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is being carried out in Dakshina Kannada, alleging violations of prescribed procedures and submitting a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner seeking corrective action.
Addressing reporters after submitting the memorandum, D'Souza said the Congress had deployed more than 1,750 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) across Dakshina Kannada to assist eligible voters and monitor the revision process. While appreciating the district administration's efforts to conduct the exercise systematically, he alleged that violations of the prescribed procedure had come to the party's notice in several places.
He claimed that some political leaders were allegedly attempting to regularise the names of people who no longer reside at their registered addresses by submitting enumeration forms based on the old electoral rolls. In some localities where houses had already been demolished, attempts were allegedly being made to create records using outdated voter lists.
D'Souza also alleged that in several areas, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were merely distributing enumeration forms instead of visiting houses and collecting details as required. As a result, many voters who are unfamiliar with the procedure could be left out of the electoral roll, he said.
The Congress further alleged that in some places, political party workers, instead of BLOs, were distributing the forms, while voters who were not present at their homes were not being provided with the forms.
The delegation urged the Deputy Commissioner to direct all BLOs to strictly follow the prescribed guidelines by conducting door-to-door verification, assisting voters in completing the forms and ensuring that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls.
According to D'Souza, the Deputy Commissioner informed the delegation that similar complaints had already come to the administration's notice and the administration was looking into into cases where enumeration forms had allegedly been submitted without the signatures of voters.
The delegation included former mayors Shashidhar Hegde and Bhaskar Moily, former deputy mayor Sheshamma, former corporators Naveen D'Souza, Keshava Maroli, Chetan Kumar, Bhaskar Rao, Appi S., Nagendra Kumar and Satish Pengal, besides Congress leaders Habibullah Kannur, Pratibha and Ravi.
