Bengaluru's Electoral Roll Digitisation Lags Behind Rural Districts
Despite being India's IT hub, Bengaluru is falling behind several other districts in the digitisation of Enumeration Forms (EFs) under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
To accelerate the process, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has deployed four senior officers to monitor progress and strengthen quality checks in the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) region. Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar said the officers are tasked with reviewing digitisation, identifying bottlenecks, and supporting district election officials.
As of Thursday, official data showed that the GBA region accounted for 27.65 lakh cases across categories—absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, and others (ASDDO)—while only about 34.29% of the Enumeration Forms had been digitised. The region recorded 5.28 lakh electors classified as absent, 19.43 lakh as shifted, 2.56 lakh as dead, 31,164 as duplicate, and 6,249 under “others.”
Several Bengaluru constituencies need closer monitoring, including Bommanahalli, Vijayanagar, Gandhinagar, Shanti Nagar, Rajajinagar, and others. In contrast, rural constituencies such as Mayakonda, Hangal, and Chickballapur have shown higher digitisation levels.
Mr. Anbu Kumar attributed Bengaluru’s slower progress to challenges in reaching voters in a large urban centre, including apartment complexes, gated communities, and residents’ availability. He noted that rural officials often have closer community ties, making voter contact easier.
The Election Commission has assigned specific constituencies to senior officers for oversight: Joint CEO V. Raghavendra will monitor Gandhinagar, Shanti Nagar, Rajajinagar, Rajarajeshwarinagar, and Chickpet; Joint CEO S. Yogeshwar will oversee C.V. Raman Nagar, K.R. Puram, Malleswaram, Mahalakshmi Layout, Sarvagnanagar, and Hebbal; Deputy CEO Vandana Bhat will monitor Bommanahalli, Vijayanagar, Govindarajanagar, Basavanagudi, B.T.M. Layout, Jayanagar, and Padmanabhanagar; Senior Consultant P.S. Vastrad has been assigned Dasarahalli and Bengaluru South.
The officers will also ensure proper scanning of voter photographs and signatures, verify ASDDO classifications, and examine objections raised by political parties. Distribution of forms across Karnataka has been completed for all 55,432,314 electors. The next phase involves collecting filled forms and digitising them within the timeline. With about 17 days remaining, election officials will intensify efforts to complete the process.
