Retired bank official from Mangaluru questions presence of non-residents in the final electoral roll

Retired bank officer K. Sathyamoorthi, who pointed out the presence of two non-residents as residing in his house in the final electoral rolls, lives near K.C. Road, off NH 66 close to Karnataka-Keralam border near Mangaluru. | Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY A retired bank official, who had worked as polling and counting supervisor in many elections, has questioned the presence of two non-residents in the final electoral roll against his house number, situated in the Karnataka side of Talapady village under Mangaluru Assembly constituency, bordering Kerala.K. Sathyamoorthi, a resident of K.C. Road in Talapady, said he pointed at the start of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, about the presence of three non-residents in the electoral roll under his house number 1-288. He said he had also asked officials to look into the names of five persons mentioned against the non-existent house number 1-288C in the locality.‘No action taken’“I am surprised to see in the final roll (released on October 27) the continuation of two names with my house number. The names of five persons from the non-existent house 1-288C also continue in the final roll.” Despite pointing this out to the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner, Mangaluru, on November 2, no action has been taken so far, the retired official said.Mr. Sathyamoorthi told The Hindu that he and his family members have been living in the house on 30 cents of land since 1992, bearing the door number 1-288. He, his wife and two sons have submitted their enrolment forms in the SIR. It was his daughter, a software profession living in Bengaluru, who discovered presence of two non-residents in house number 1-288, and five persons with house number 1-288C.On enquiry, the local Talapady panchayat told him that there was no house with number 1-288C. In the panchayat records, no house tax has been paid against 1-288C for the last four years, and the exact location of this house is not known. “As it appeared to be a house number mentioned just for enrolment in the electoral roll, I sought inquiry into the veracity of the presence of five persons in house number 1-288C, and also deletion of three names mentioned with house number 1-288.”Accordingly, he gave a letter to the office of Deputy Commissioner H.V. Darshan on August 12 in this regard. He met Assistant Commissioner Meenakshi Arya, who is now transferred, on the same day and handed the letter. “She had assured of considering it during the present SIR. But I am disappointed to see that two non-residents have been retained against my house number 1-288, while five names continue to be mentioned against house number 1-288C in the final roll.”MP Tejasvi Surya takes up issueAs no action has been initiated so far, Mr. Sathyamoorti said he would take up the issue with the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya spoke about Mr. Sathyamoorthi’s petition during the “Save Democracy” rally held on November 6. Reacting to it, District in-charge Minister U.T. Khader, who represents Mangaluru Assembly constituency, said he will ask district officials to hold an inquiry. “I do not want unauthorised voters in the voters list,” he said.Additional Deputy Commissioner K. Raju said Mr. Sathyamoorthi’s November 2 letter is yet to come before the Deputy Commissioner. So far, a total of 10 appeals have been filed against the orders of Assistant Electoral Officer concerning SIR, and except one, all the nine appeals have been allowed, he said. Published - November 09, 2026 04:39 pm IST