Bengaluru residents attending Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearings are being allowed some flexibility over the time printed on their notices, helping reduce pressure for voters with work, travel or family-related constraints. However, the accommodation differs between booths, and electoral officials have warned that unscheduled crowds could create confusion in high-volume areas.
Electoral registration officers (EROs) and booth-level officers (BLOs) across the city have been hearing cases beyond the allotted time in some locations. Voters who had not received notices but found their names on the list have also been allowed to walk in at certain centres, while some BLOs have permitted residents to choose another date.
Shyam Padhi, a Whitefield resident, told the Times of India that he informed his BLO about his unavailability. A senior member of his family was then allowed to appear in an earlier slot. Such adjustments are also being made when several members of the same family receive separate notices or when a scheduled hearing clashes with work or studies.
At Marathahalli, volunteer Pramod Hebbar said morning appointments were difficult for residents who had to leave for work. BLOs in his community therefore advised voters to attend between 3pm and 6pm, when the rush was comparatively lower. “Evenings are relatively light. Hence, in our community, BLOs advised a slot from 3pm to 6pm, and they were helpful in accommodating changes in appointments,” he said.
The flexibility is not uniform across Bengaluru. Vinu Jade, a BLA-2 from New Thippasandra, said accommodations were largely being made for senior citizens, while other voters were generally expected to follow their allotted time. He advised residents to check with their BLO before changing an appointment. Families attending together during one of the slots assigned to their members could be accommodated, he said.
Some hearing centres have also allowed voters to arrive early after preparing their documents. Vidya Goggi, a citizen committee member assisting residents in RT Nagar, said the centre there had assigned different dates to different booths and that residents had not reported delays or long waiting times.
An official at the chief electoral officer’s office cautioned that large numbers of people arriving without scheduled appointments could create a chaotic situation in areas handling a high volume of notices. An ERO from Bengaluru Central said staff had been instructed to accommodate people who turned up, including those who had already missed their scheduled dates.
The process has also drawn a request for a statewide review. Ramesh Babu, a former Congress MLC and chairman of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s media and communications wing, wrote to Karnataka Chief Electoral Commissioner Anbu Kumar seeking a review of the SIR exercise. Citing booth 512 in Yeshwantpur, where he said only 38% of voters were found valid, Babu raised concerns about discrepancies, mapping errors, incomplete enumeration and responses to grievances from BLOs, supervisors, assistant electoral registration officers and EROs.
Babu said administrative difficulties or failures in communication should not result in the wrongful exclusion of eligible voters, and sought a time-bound action report. For residents, the immediate guidance from officials and local volunteers remains to confirm any change in appointment directly with the relevant BLO before visiting a hearing centre.
