Actor Prakash Raj, on Tuesday, August 11, has alleged that his name has been removed from the voter list in Bengaluru during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka. The actor’s name has been included in the ASDDO (Absent, Shifted Address, Dead, Duplicate and Others) category. The move comes amid a separate court case in which he faces allegations of being enrolled in multiple electoral rolls in Karnataka and Telangana.
Prakash Raj, a vocal critic of alleged irregularities in voter rolls, said that he wanted to share a “joke”, and added that he was among 65 lakh voters whose votes had been deleted.
Emphasising his connection to the area, the actor said he was born, raised and educated there and began his theatre career in the constituency. He also pointed out that he had contested the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate in 2019.
“You can use your powers to deny a few citizens the right to vote, who may not elect you,” he said, adding, “But can you stop us, my dear friend, from our power of bringing you down?”
The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has urged voters to verify their details and contact their Booth Level Officer (BLO) if their names have been wrongly flagged.
Earlier in June, a Bengaluru court had issued a non-bailable warrant against the actor after he allegedly failed to respond to summons. An advocate named K Dilip Kumar had filed a private complaint with a court alleging that Prakash was enrolled as a voter in Shantinagar Assembly constituency in Bengaluru, two electoral rolls in Velachery Assembly constituency in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and another in Serilingampally Assembly constituency in Telangana.
The deletion of Prakash Raj’s name comes amid concerns over a large number of names being flagged during the SIR exercise. According to the Election Commission of India, nearly 1.09 crore names have been included in the ASDDO (Absent, Shifted Address, Dead, Duplicate and Others) category.
The Election Commission will also publish the draft rolls, after which voters will have an opportunity to file claims and objections before the final rolls are published.