Actor Prakash Raj announced a 22‑30 September audit of 100 polling booths across Karnataka to document alleged arbitrariness in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). He plans to present the findings at a national public hearing in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 15.

  • Prakash Raj will audit 100 Karnataka polling booths between Sept 22‑30
  • SIR described as a "scam" and "conspiracy"
  • Evidence to be presented at a public hearing in Jantar Mantar on Oct 15

In a press conference in Bengaluru, veteran actor Prakash Raj denounced the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a "scam" and a "conspiracy". He announced that from September 22 to September 30 he will personally visit 100 polling booths across Karnataka to collect concrete evidence of the exercise’s alleged arbitrariness. The compiled dossier will be showcased at a national public hearing in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on October 15.

Raj emphasized that the campaign will also pursue legal avenues, filing the gathered proof in multiple courts. Together with civil‑society groups, he will map each booth’s data, scrutinising why voters were placed on the Absent, Shifted, Duplicate, Dead or Others (ASDDO) list and whether enumeration forms were correctly filled or flagged for discrepancies.

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He criticized the Election Commission’s VIP treatment of high‑profile personalities such as actor Shiva Rajkumar, questioning whether popularity grants undue privileges. “Does fame automatically translate into voting privileges while the common man is marginalized?” he asked.

Targeting political parties across the spectrum, Raj said, “From Rahul Gandhi to Narendra Modi, everyone hands out biryani packets during elections, yet when citizens need assistance—like now during SIR and the pandemic—they abandon them.” He warned that the exercise threatens the fundamental democratic principle that voters decide who governs.

Raj highlighted a troubling clause in Form‑6 used for re‑inclusion: it requires applicants to declare they are applying for the first time, with false statements punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. He argued this forces removed voters to incriminate themselves, effectively asking them to lie to regain voting rights.

He also pointed to the immunity granted to the Chief Election Commissioner and other commissioners under Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which bars courts from initiating proceedings against them for official actions. “Such immunity is clearly designed to shield a pre‑planned scam,” Raj asserted, noting that a genuine inclusion exercise would have allowed a more measured timeline.

Why This Matters

BozokMedia analysis shows that exposing systemic arbitrariness in SIR could erode public confidence in India’s electoral machinery and trigger legislative reforms aimed at safeguarding voter rights.

"Labeling SIR a scam challenges the very legitimacy of the electoral roll process," said election law scholar Dr. Anitha Singh.
Did You Know?: The 2024 national public hearing in India was limited to environmental issues, marking the first time such a platform was used at a countrywide level.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will Prakash Raj’s audit conclude? The fieldwork ends on September 30, with the evidence slated for presentation on October 15.

What legal steps are being considered? Raj plans to file petitions in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, seeking judicial scrutiny of the SIR process.