SIR: While ‘VIP voters’ are protected from hassle, common man in Bengaluru has to run from pillar to post

For lakhs in Bengaluru, it is a struggle to even understand what they are expected to prove at the hearing centres, and what to do if they have no documents or have documents but are currently in another State

Published - September 13, 2026 06:00 am IST - Bengaluru

People visit a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) assistance centre to verify and update their electoral roll documents in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: file photo

Mohammed Sadiq, an auto driver, has seven members in his family, and all of them have received notices in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. While four know when their hearings are scheduled, the other three notices have not yet reached the Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

With him being the only earner, and four members of his family having no documents except Aadhaar and ration cards, he wonders what will change after the hearing. While only half of the family can establish their eligibility as Indian citizens, he said they are worried about what will happen if they do not appear for the hearing as they have no documents.

A caste certificate, he said, costs ₹1,200 per person through agents, while his efforts to get one through the government portal have failed as his application has not progressed. “How can i afford to get one for so many people?” he questioned.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has ensured that prominent persons will be added to the final rolls or will not be served notices as they are “VIP voters” and changes to their cases are being made through Form-8 and their names added to the final rolls from the convenience of their houses.

But for lakhs in the city like Sadiq, it is a struggle to even understand what they are expected to prove at the hearing centres, and what to do if they have no documents or have documents but are currently in another State.

While the hearing of SIR notices began on September 5, there has been no let-up in the chaos that has left voters running from pillar to post. Many citizens are saying that while BLOs and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) have been trying to help, the design of the system is such that they are also left with no option.

For instance, notices are issued under two categories — no mapping and logical discrepancy. In logical discrepancy cases, while a discrepancy related to the “self” only requires one document, discrepancies related to “progeny” require three documents — one of the elector (self), the other of the parent, and a third of the grandparent.

AEROs point out that many are struggling to produce even a document for themselves, while in several cases, the electors who received notices have lost their parents, or are over 80 years old, with practically no records to prove.

In such cases, AEROs were seen assisting voters, by even uploading documents that are not part of the indicative list, such as ration cards. In several instances at hearing venues in Chamrajpet, Frazer Town and Kalyan Nagar, AEROs uploaded the same ration card thrice — for the self, the parent, and the grandparent.

“The system is accepting the documents, but we don’t know what will happen in the final rolls,” an AERO said.

Pointing to another case, an AERO said that in a few instances, notices were issued to twins, seeking an explanation for “less than nine months of gap between the progeny”.

AEROs said they were clueless about how to prove such a situation, as birth certificates do not state that the children are twins and are issued separately in each child’s name.

In such cases, the government’s initiative to provide permanent residential certificates (PRCs) and caste certificates could have helped. However, many are not getting the certificates even when they apply in person, while applications submitted online are also not moving forward.

Published - September 13, 2026 06:00 am IST

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