Congress raises alarm over Karnataka SIR as 84 lakh voters face removal in draft roll

3 min readBengaluruUpdated: Jul 29, 2026 08:06 PM IST The Karnataka Congress led by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has sought a second round of verification before deletions (File photo).The ruling Congress in Karnataka has raised alarm over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, expressing “serious concern” as data reveals that over 84 lakh electors, representing roughly 15 per cent of the state’s total mapped voters, face potential removal in the draft roll scheduled for publication on August 17. In a petition submitted to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V Anbukumar on Wednesday, the Karnataka Congress warned that dropping names from the rolls “without thorough verification” risks disenfranchising a large number of genuine and eligible citizens.To safeguard voters’