SIR Row in Hubballi-Dharwad East: Joshi Alleges EC Norms Violated

Hubballi: Alleging irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Hubli-Dharwad East Assembly constituency, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday sought immediate legal action against the officials allegedly responsible and those behind what he described as an attempt to misuse the constitutional process for the benefit of the ruling party.

“After similar allegations in Ramanagara and Shiggaon-Savanur, alleged irregularities have now surfaced in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Ward No. 63, Booth No. 16 of the Hubli-Dharwad East (Constituency No. 72) Assembly constituency,” Joshi posted on X.

The post is accompanied with a video.

In the video shared by Joshi, a man is heard asking the BLO about the activity. She responds that people from distant places had come. The man then says there is no such provision under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The BLO is also heard saying that she has been visiting households as part of the exercise. The video shows several people gathered inside a small building, with a large number of enumeration forms visible at the location.

"Shocking visuals have emerged showing Booth Level Officer (BLO) allegedly flouting the Election Commission of India's guidelines by filling enumeration forms while seated at a single location instead of carrying out the mandatory door-to-door visits,” he stated in the post.

Joshi stated that acting on a complaint lodged by the BJP Booth Level Agent-2 (BLA-2), the party's Booth Level Agent-1 (BLA-1) immediately visited the spot and documented the alleged irregularity with supporting evidence.

Joshi demanded immediate and stringent legal action against the officials allegedly flouting the Election Commission's guidelines and misusing the constitutional process to benefit the ruling party, as well as against those he claimed were behind the alleged irregularities.