Bengaluru: Actor Prakash Raj on Tuesday, August 11, alleged that his name has been deleted from the Bengaluru voter list during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.
Seemingly taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Instagram reels, Raj began his video with the signature “Friends, Saathiyon” and said he wants to share a “joke” with everyone.
“I am one of the 65 lakh voters whose vote right has been deleted from the Bangalore constituency after SIR. Nice joke, no?” the actor said.
Raj asserted that he was born in the Bengaluru constituency, was a resident of the constituency and completed his schooling and college in the constituency, including his theatre studies.
“And for your kind information, I was an MP candidate of this constituency too,” Raj said, laughing.
He said he was ready to go through the SIR process, saying, “While the joke is funny, game on. Let me see what is the process I have to go through.”
“Kya kya khaagaz dikhana padega (What all papers will I have to show) to get back my voter ID?”
Raj’s ‘one little’ statement
Before ending the video, Raj said he has just one “little” statement to make. “My friend, you can use your powers to deny a few of the citizens the right to vote who may not elect you. But can you stop us, my dear friend, from our power of bringing you down from your throne, just asking,” he said.
Prakash Raj has been vocal with his criticism of the Modi-led government, often flagging the issues in the country. During the NEET protests, he visited Jantar Mantar to extend support to the Cockroach Janta Party and Sonam Wangchuk, who was on an indefinite hunger strike. Sharing videos of police use of lathis and tear gas, Raj said he “witnessed authoritarian regime’s brutality” on the youth of the country.
Karnataka SIR: Over 1.11 crore ASDDO voters identified
On August 5, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar said the ongoing special revision of the electoral rolls has identified more than 1.11 crore voters under the ASDDO category—Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others.
According to the electoral revision data, 66.64 lakh voters have permanently shifted from their registered addresses, while 16.30 lakh voters have died. The exercise also identified 6.89 lakh duplicate voters and another 4.88 lakh voters under the “Others” category.
The revision has revealed a significant number of unverified voters in Bengaluru, with nearly 45 per cent of voters in Bengaluru Urban district not traced during verification.
