CH NEWS
BENGALURU
The Karnataka government has said the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has not identified any Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Iranian nationals possessing Aadhaar cards, ration cards or other Indian government documents and benefits.
Home Minister Priyank Kharge gave the information in a written reply in the Legislative Assembly, amid allegations by BJP and JD(S) members that illegal immigrants were being allowed to obtain Indian documents and become voters.
The SIR enumeration exercise concluded on August 17, while the draft electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on August 24. As many as 1.07 crore voters could potentially be excluded from the electoral rolls after being categorised under Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO).
The response followed a question from expelled BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on whether the government was aware of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Iranian nationals becoming voters after obtaining Aadhaar cards, ration cards and other documents.
In a separate written reply, Kharge said 771 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants had been identified in Karnataka over the past three years. Of them, 57 were arrested and 572 deported.
Bengaluru Urban accounted for the largest number, with 700 cases, followed by Mangaluru City with 23, Shivamogga and Kolar with 12 each, Udupi with 10, Chitradurga with six, Chikkamagaluru with five, Dharwad with two and Raichur with one.
Kharge said most illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were engaged in rag-picking and police had been instructed to monitor their movements. A Special Task Force has also been constituted to detect illegal migrants.
