The Election Commission of India (ECI) has retracted a notice it issued to Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba. The notice was related to a discrepancy in his name identified during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Karnataka. This development comes as Hajabba continues to be recognized for his contributions to society.
The SIR in West Bengal was one of the most contentious in recent years. The difference in absolute votes between the BJP, which swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, and the Trinamool Congress was similar to the total SIR deletions. In May, the ECI announced Phase 3 of SIR in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand. On April 10, the ECI announced the deletion of nearly nine million from the electoral roll.
Out of these, around 2.7 million deletions fell under the “logical discrepancy” category.
The SIR sparked criticism from the Opposition, which alleged that the exercise is a strategic voter roll clean-up drive by the poll body to benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Earlier reporting noted: According to sources, the Padma Shri awardee’s name was recorded as only ‘Hajabba’ in the old 2002 voter list, while his name in subsequent official records is ‘Harekala Hajabba’. Earlier reporting noted: The Karnataka SIR began on June 30. Over 43.81 lakh notices have been generated as part of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls, of which 7.31 lakh have so far been delivered to electors, according to the state chief electoral officer.
Earlier reporting noted: According to sources, Hajabba expressed confidence that the discrepancy would be resolved after the documents are examined.
Officials Reassess Notice Issued to Hajabba
Following the public release of a notice regarding his name, Harekal Hajabba reported that officials visited his home. They retracted the notice and indicated they would investigate the situation further. Hajabba expressed uncertainty about the next steps but remained optimistic, noting that all his official documents since 2004 have identified him as Harekal Hajabba.
