Karnataka Muslim group flags alleged disproportionate deletion of Muslim voters during SIR

The Karnataka Rajya Muslim Okkoota (KRMO) has questioned the deletion of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It has sought an explanation from the Election Commission of India (ECI), citing data that shows Muslims were disproportionately represented in certain deletion categories.

In a statement on Monday, November 9, the organisation said an analysis of booth-level data published by the ECI, conducted by political research consultancy Sankalp, found that 27.59% of voters had been deleted across the 10 Assembly constituencies represented by Muslim MLAs. This was higher than the statewide deletion rate of 19.45%.

The 10 constituencies had 9,62,359 Muslim voters on the 2025 electoral rolls. Of these, 2,46,759, or 25.64%, were deleted during the revision. The overall deletion rate in these constituencies was 27.59%, while the rate among voters from other communities was 28.79%.

The analysis also found that more than 8.80 lakh Muslim voters were deleted across 64 constituencies where Muslims account for at least 15% of the electorate. Of the 38,82,598 Muslim voters on the 2025 rolls in these constituencies, 8,80,543, or 22.67%, were removed. The deletion rate among other voters in these constituencies was 20.19%.

KRMO also pointed to the distribution of deletion categories across Karnataka. Of the 15,15,088 voters deleted under the 'absent' category, 2,58,770 were Muslims. Similarly, Muslims accounted for 1,43,940 of the 7,08,666 voters removed under the 'already enrolled elsewhere' category.

According to the analysis, Muslims accounted for 12.9% of voters on the state's 2025 electoral rolls, but made up 17.1% of those deleted as absent and 20.3% of those removed as already enrolled elsewhere. By contrast, 2,00,277 Muslim voters were deleted under the 'dead' category, accounting for 12.2% of all voters removed on that ground.

The organisation argued that the difference was significant because deaths can be verified against official records. At the same time, classifications such as absent or already enrolled elsewhere depend substantially on assessments made by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and other field officials. It questioned whether adequate verification had been carried out before these names were removed and sought details of the number of visits officials made to the homes of voters marked absent.

The analysis identified particularly high numbers of deletions in constituencies represented by Muslim MLAs. Bengaluru's Chamarajpet recorded 1,07,722 deletions, followed by Gulbarga North with 1,05,257, Narasimharaja in Mysuru with 99,367 and Shivajinagar in Bengaluru with 81,230.

The other constituencies included Ramanagaram, where 28,088 voters were deleted, and Mangaluru, which recorded 16,989 deletions. The 10 constituencies also included Shantinagar, Bidar, Belagavi North and Shiggaon.

KRMO said the concentration of deletions in constituencies with a large Muslim electorate, along with the higher share of Muslims in categories based on field-level assessments, raised questions about the credibility of the exercise. The organisation said the pattern could not be dismissed as a coincidence and called on the Chief Electoral Officer and the ECI to explain the figures.

The Sankalp analysis also examined deletions in constituencies where the Congress had performed strongly in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It found that 22,35,155 voters were deleted from booths where the Congress had secured at least 60% of the votes. This accounted for 20.74% of the 1,07,76,645 deletions covered in the booth-wise analysis.

In 39 Assembly constituencies, more than 35% of the deleted names came from these Congress strong booths. Of these constituencies, 26 were won by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly elections, 11 by the BJP and two by the JD(S). The 39 constituencies had an average Muslim share of 22% in their electoral rolls, compared with the statewide average of 12.9%.

The analysis also flagged a discrepancy between the number of new voters added during the revision and the number of applications recorded for inclusion. According to Sankalp's data, the ECI recorded 10,08,038 additions against 7,85,716 Form 9 applications, a difference of 2,22,322.

The data also recorded 1,88,324 deletions through claims and objections and 8,96,519 modifications. However, the ECI had not published a reconciliation explaining the difference between the number of additions and Form 9 applications in the records examined by Sankalp.

KRMO has demanded that the SIR be scrapped and the electoral rolls used before the revision be restored for future elections. It has also sought a comprehensive judicial inquiry into the exercise and legal action against officials found responsible for irregularities.