Bengaluru lagging in voter mapping will not affect SIR: Maheshwar Rao

With voter mapping ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls progressing at a slower pace in Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) areas compared to several other districts in Karnataka, GBA Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said efforts would be intensified to improve coverage and asserted that the current level of mapping would not affect the revision process.

Date of freezing

As per directions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, the E-Roll (digital version of the official voter list used by the Election Commission of India) will be frozen on June 16. Pending Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8 – used for new voters, NRI voters, objections and upgradation, respectively – will be disposed of before the freeze date, Mr. Rao said.

“Mapping is just a procedure to make the work easy and simplified for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and electors. Enumeration form will be given to every one, based on which the procedure will be taken forward. Mapping percentage, in no way, will affect the SIR exercise,” he said during a press conference on Thursday.

He said that work is under way to map the 2025 electoral roll and progeny with the 2002 electoral roll as part of preparatory activities and all necessary steps would be taken to ensure the inclusion of eligible voters.

Role of political parties

Political parties have been allowed to participate in the process by submitting up to 50 forms a day to the BLOs until publication of the draft electoral roll. Following publication of the draft roll, the political parties will be permitted to submit not more than 10 forms a day, Mr. Rao said.

He clarified that only government department and individuals associated with government would be roped in for any kind of support or coordination. The maximum enumerators, he said, would be roped in from the Education department.

Stormwater drains rectified

Responding to concerns over roads damaged during the recent spell of rains despite the GBA’s preparedness measures, GBA Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said most of the major stormwater drains that had previously contributed to flooding had been rectified. As a result, the city did not witness any major flooding incidents this time, he said.

While acknowledging that some issues did emerge following the rains, he maintained that these were confined to specific localities rather than being citywide and added that mitigation works are continuing. “The GBA will come up with a plan to address flooding in vulnerable areas,” he added.