Bengaluru’s electorate plunges from 1.03 crore to 59 lakh after SIR

Bengaluru has lost more than 43 lakh names from its electoral roll in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with its electorate shrinking from 1.03 crore to just 59.08 lakh. The city, which accounted for the highest number of deletions in Karnataka during the draft stage, was also disproportionately affected during the subsequent notice and hearing process, with nearly half of all notices issued across the State concentrated here. 

The final electorate comprises 28,68,670 male voters, 30,40,431 female voters and 674 third-gender voters. 

At the draft stage, Bengaluru’s electorate had already plummeted to 56.99 lakh. Despite a month-long window for claims and objections, the final roll saw a net addition of only 2,74,372 names, leaving the city with slightly over 59 lakh electors against its pre-SIR electorate of over one crore. 

The scale of the deletions remains shocking across the city’s districts. For instance, in BBMP North, the pre-SIR electorate fell from 23,32,621 to just 13,25,284 in the final roll. Even Bengaluru Urban, which had 40,21,039 electors before the exercise, now has just over 24 lakh. Across the city, the final roll reflects a massive reduction in the electorate, with additions doing little to offset the names struck off during the revision. 

Most of the Assembly constituencies across Bengaluru were the epicentre of the notice phase as well. Of the 43.82 lakh notices issued across Karnataka over logical discrepancies and lack of mapping, nearly 24 lakh were concentrated in the city. Of these notices in Bengaluru, 65,881 cases resulted in net deletions from the final roll, including 28,834 people marked as “ineligible“ following hearings.  

Moreover, at least 12 of Bengaluru’s 28 Assembly constituencies have seen the number of names deleted from the draft electoral roll exceed 10 times the winning margin in the 2023 Assembly election.   

Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, and B.T.M. Layout — all three Assembly constituencies reported more than 50% net deletions. 

Bommanahalli, for instance, had reported the highest deletions following publication of the draft rolls, with more than 54% of names deleted. This constituency had 4.84 lakh names when the exercise began. Following publication of the draft rolls, its electorate fell to just 2.19 lakh. Then, within this drastically reduced electorate, another 1.02 lakh received notices. The final roll figure for the constituency stands at 2,24,339.