Words were misinterpreted: Karnataka minister clarifies SIR stand after backing it

Satish Jarkiholi clarified that his Karnataka SIR remarks concerned Congress efforts against alleged Form 7 voter deletions. The intervention followed Priyank Kharge's questions and came before the INDIA bloc's Delhi rally.He added that he had not intended to suggest that the SIR process was correct or valid. (Credits: X/Satish Jarkiholi)Bengaluru,Oct 30, 2026 12:12 ISTKarnataka Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Friday clarified his remarks on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying his statement had been misinterpreted.He said he was referring to the Congress's efforts to counter attempts to delete the names of eligible voters through Form 7 applications and had not endorsed the SIR process itself.In a statement posted on X, Jarkiholi said his remarks were intended to highlight how attempts to remove the names of Congress-supporting voters from electoral rolls in Karnataka had been thwarted through the efforts of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and under the guidance of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar."Compared to other states, the BJP's conspiracy to delete names of Congress-supporting voters from the electoral rolls in Karnataka through Form-7 has been foiled through the struggle of our national leader Shri Rahul Gandhi and under the guidance of Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister Shri D.K. Shivakumar — this was the intention of my statement," he said. SIR ! SIR . –7 .. . , SIR . –7 , . . . . , . @kcvenugopalmp @rssurjewala @INCIndia @INCKarnataka @DKShivakumar #KarnatakaNews— Satish Jarkiholi (@JarkiholiSatish) October 30, 2026 He added that he had not intended to suggest that the SIR process was correct or valid.Jarkiholi said the resistance against attempts to delete eligible voters' names had begun in Belagavi district. Reiterating his position, he said he opposed any move to deprive eligible voters of their voting rights and supported Rahul Gandhi's efforts to protect democratic values. "My stand against any attempt to snatch away the rights of eligible voters has been firm from the beginning. I strongly oppose attempts to illegally remove names of eligible voters from the voters' list," he said.WHAT JARKIHOLI SAID ABOUT SIR IN KARNATAKAThe clarification came a day after Jarkiholi defended the SIR exercise in Karnataka, saying it had been conducted properly and that other states should follow the same approach.Speaking to the media on Thursday, he said the Congress had not opposed the exercise in Karnataka but had raised concerns about its implementation in states such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar."We didn't protest about SIR in Karnataka, we raised issues about the SIR process in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar, etc. Because of all the training we gave, SIR has been done properly in Karnataka, we want it to be done the same way in other states too," he said.Asked about the deletion of around one crore voter entries, Jarkiholi said the names belonged to people who had died, shifted or appeared more than once on the electoral rolls. He said similar deletions should have been carried out in other states.PRIYANK KHARGE FLAGS FORM 7 CONCERNSJarkiholi's remarks also drew a response from Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, who questioned the assessment that the SIR exercise had been conducted properly in the state. He cited concerns over Form 7 applications submitted to seek the deletion of voters' names.Kharge referred to an incident in Chittapur, where 40 people from a single community in one polling booth were targeted through Form 7 applications, according to him.He said an inquiry by returning officers found that pre-printed Form 7 applications were available in bulk, while the person who submitted them did not know why the applications had been filed."The person who had submitted the Form 7 did not know why he had done that, and all they said was, 'It's come from the top.' So that's a very clear indication that this is a conspiracy that has its roots all over the place, and it's centralised. We will get to the bottom of it," Kharge said.He added that he was unsure what information Jarkiholi had relied on while assessing the SIR exercise in Karnataka.JARKIHOLI'S CLARIFICATION AHEAD OF INDIA BLOC RALLYThe clarification comes ahead of the INDIA bloc's mega rally scheduled for November 1 at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi.The proposed rally has also drawn concerns from a traders' body over the potential impact on business during the festive season.The body has warned that the expected turnout of around 10 lakh people could create a lockdown-like situation and affect more than 20 markets in the Ramlila Maidan area.- EndsWith inputs from ANI and Nagarjun Dwarkanath