Karnataka SIR: Congress demands 15-day extension to fix ADDSO voter status
Synopsis
Over 1.10 crore Karnataka voters — one-fifth of the state's electorate — have been flagged under the ADDSO category, and the Congress is demanding 15 more days before the 8 August deadline closes. What began as a routine electoral roll revision has become a charged political confrontation, with the ruling party accusing the BJP of engineering mass voter deletions ahead of future elections.
Key Takeaways
Hariprasad wrote to Karnataka CEO V.
Anbu Kumar on 7 August seeking a 15-day extension to the ADDSO correction deadline.
1,10,97,426 voters — 20.02 per cent of Karnataka's electorate — are classified under the ADDSO (Absent, Death, Delete, Shifting, Others) category.
The current deadline for voters to approach BLOs and correct their status is 8 August .
KPCC's Ramesh Babu alleged the proportion of voters proposed for deletion rose from 15 per cent to 20 per cent in a single week.
Shivakumar said he will comment on the issue only after the SIR process concludes.
The Election Commission has maintained that voters can approach BLOs to rectify discrepancies before final rolls are prepared.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President B.K. Hariprasad on Friday, 7 August wrote to state Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar, urging the Election Commission of India to extend by 15 days the deadline for voters to correct their status under the ADDSO category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka. The current deadline falls on 8 August, which Hariprasad argued is insufficient for over a crore affected voters to act.
Scale of the ADDSO Classification
Citing district-wise Electoral Form (EF) digitisation data as of 4 pm on 5 August, Hariprasad stated that 1,10,97,426 voters — representing 20.02 per cent of Karnataka's electorate — have been classified under the ADDSO category, which stands for Absent, Death, Delete, Shifting and Others. The Chief Electoral Officer's office had made a readable list of these voters available online, allowing affected individuals to approach their Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to seek corrections.
Congress's Case for an Extension
'Since the window is closing on August 8, we seek an extension of 15 days to effectively exercise this compliance and bring down to the maximum possible ADDSO,' Hariprasad wrote in the letter. The party contends that a significant number of bona fide voters have been incorrectly categorised and must be given adequate opportunity to restore their names before the final electoral rolls are prepared. Hariprasad urged the CEO to act in the interest of ensuring no eligible voter is disenfranchised by procedural constraints.
Political Accusations and the BJP Angle
The extension request comes amid a sharply contested political debate over the SIR exercise. On Thursday, KPCC Media and Communications Department Chairman Ramesh Babu alleged that the revision was being weaponised to remove Congress supporters from the rolls. 'Every vote deleted in Karnataka is the direct responsibility of the BJP. The SIR exercise is not merely an electoral roll revision. It is an attempt to remove Congress supporters from the voters' list,' he alleged. Babu also noted that the proportion of voters proposed for deletion had risen from 15 per cent the previous week to 20 per cent by this week, covering voters flagged as absent, deceased, enrolled in multiple locations, or having changed address.
Chief Minister's Response
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, reacting to questions about the deletion of names of 1.10 crore persons from the voters' list, said he would respond once the SIR process is concluded and indicated he would address the matter separately. The Election Commission has maintained its position that voters can approach BLOs to correct discrepancies before the final rolls are prepared.
What Happens Next
Whether the Election Commission grants the 15-day extension will determine how many of the flagged 1,10,97,426 voters can have their status rectified before rolls are finalised. The outcome carries significant electoral weight in a state where the Congress currently holds power and where voter list accuracy has become a flashpoint between the ruling party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The SIR process, designed as a routine electoral health check, has rapidly turned into a political battleground ahead of future elections in Karnataka.
Point of View
But the compressed timelines risk sweeping out genuine voters — particularly migrant workers and the urban poor who are harder to locate during field surveys. The Congress's allegation that the BJP is engineering deletions is politically motivated, but the underlying concern about a 20 per cent ADDSO rate is not trivial — it is unusually high and warrants scrutiny. Chief Minister Shivakumar's decision to defer comment until after the process concludes is a calculated hedge, but it leaves over a crore voters without a clear champion in the days before the deadline. The Election Commission's credibility now rests on whether it grants the extension and publishes transparent data on how ADDSO classifications were made.
NationPress
7 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ADDSO category in Karnataka's electoral roll revision?
ADDSO stands for Absent, Death, Delete, Shifting, and Others — a classification used during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to flag voters whose names may need to be removed or updated. In Karnataka's current SIR, over 1.10 crore voters, or 20.02 per cent of the electorate, have been placed in this category.
Why is the Congress demanding a 15-day extension?
The Congress argues that the 8 August deadline does not give sufficient time for all 1,10,97,426 ADDSO-flagged voters to verify and correct their status with Booth Level Officers. KPCC President B.K. Hariprasad has written to the Chief Electoral Officer requesting the extension to prevent eligible voters from being dropped from the final rolls.
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls?
The SIR is a periodic exercise conducted by the Election Commission to update and clean up voter rolls by identifying and removing entries for deceased, absent, shifted, or duplicate voters. In Karnataka, the current SIR has flagged roughly one-fifth of the state's 5.40 crore voters for potential deletion or correction.
What has the BJP been accused of in connection with the SIR?
KPCC's Ramesh Babu alleged that the BJP is using the SIR to remove Congress supporters from voter lists, calling every deleted name 'the direct responsibility of the BJP.' The BJP has not been reported to have formally responded to these specific allegations.
What has Chief Minister Shivakumar said about the voter deletions?
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said he would react to the deletion of 1.10 crore names only after the SIR process is concluded, indicating he would address the matter separately at a later stage.
