Over 6.5 lakh voters left out in Belagavi, the biggest electoral district in Karnataka

As many as 6.5 lakh voters have been left out of the electoral rolls in Belagavi district after the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The district had around 41,53,775 voters in January 2025. The figure has come down to 34,94,913. That leaves out 6,58,862 voters, or around 15.8%, of voters. This is higher than the State average of around 12%, and lower than the deletion percentage of Bengaluru (43%). The 18 Assembly seats of Belagavi have had an average deletion of 36,603 votes each. The district also had 1.58% pre-SIR deletions.

The deletions in Belagavi district include the names of around 1,03,839 Muslim voters. Of these, around 23,901 were in Belgaum Uttar constituency, represented by Asif (Raju) Sait of the Congress, a Muslim leader.

Mr. Sait reported 84,483 deletions in his constituency, 20 times his winning margin of 4,231. His son Aman Sait and others complained to the ECI that some BJP leaders, including former party nominee Ravi Patil, had violated rules of Form 7 applications, including fudging of documents and intimidating officers. Dr. Patil obtained anticipatory bail after an FIR was filed against him by a Congress Booth Level Agent.

Belgaum Uttar had around 64,306 Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO ) deletions, that includes deletion of 19,558 Muslim voters.

Interestingly, the constituency had pre-SIR deletions of 21,611 names, including 4,335 Muslims. It had around 18,612 deletions based on Form 7 objections by third parties that included 4,941 requests for removal of names of Muslim voters.