The Disenfranchisement of a Patriotic Citizen: A True Story

Over a month ago, an editorial column in this newspaper drew attention to the inhuman consequences of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It raised fundamental questions about citizenship, documentation and disenfranchisement. I want to share my own concern with a true story. My mother, now almost 93, couldn’t vote in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Her name had simply disappeared from the electoral rolls. Thankfully, she is still very much with us, so it could not have been because of her supposed demise. Nor had she changed her residence or otherwise become ineligible. She had been a registered voter for decades. When she questioned her local boothlevel officer (BLO), as well as political workers from both the BJP and Congress who came canvassing at her home, they assured her that her name would be restored. Nothing happened. When the 2024 general elections came around, she still couldn’t vote. No campaigners visited her this time. She didn’t exist as far as they were concerned. She never discovered who had authorised her deletion, nor could her voting rights be restored despite our efforts. At her age, running about from the proverbial pillar to post is out of the question. A patriotic lady and conscientious citizen who had dutifully, almost religiously, exercised her franchise since the very first election after independence, had suddenly disappeared from the ballot. To be sure, this happened much before the present controversy over SIR, which is precisely why I highlight it.