SIR notice: While West Bengal netas paid for flight tickets for their voters, what will those in Karnataka do?

Rashmi, a voter from north Bengaluru, received a notice stating she had been flagged for 'no mapping'. However, her father, contacted by his Booth Level Officer (BLO), also received the same notice despite having completed the mapping correctly. With their hearing scheduled for September 8, and the family currently in Delhi due to a medical emergency, they must either return to Bengaluru at short notice or risk losing their voting rights.

This predicament is likely shared by many voters across Karnataka, many of whom had just found their names in the draft electoral roll before receiving notices. While some completed the enumeration form online, others had family members do it on their behalf. Now, only the elector has to appear for the hearing, with failure to do so risking their voting right.

Political parties have little to offer voters beyond informing them about the notices. The Congress, BJP, and JD(S) have requested an extension, arguing that the limited time between the notice and the hearing leaves them little time to identify voters, inform them, or arrange for those not in the state. In contrast, West Bengal, which issued lakhs of notices over logical discrepancies, saw political parties like the BJP fund special trains to bring migrant workers back to Kolkata for hearings, while the Trinamool Congress launched an 'identity campaign' to consolidate its voter base.

In Karnataka, political parties are still trying to understand the scale of the problem and work out assistance for voters within the limited time available, with Jagarutha Karnataka and other organizations monitoring the exercise.