Ex-Navy chief asked to confirm identity under SIR; authorities to reach out to him
Panaji (PTI): The Election Commission of India has issued a notice to former chief of naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash, asking him to attend a meeting to establish his identity as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Admiral Prakash, who has been settled in Goa since his retirement, said SIR forms should be revised if they are not “evoking” the required information.
A senior official said his details do not figure in the voter list last updated in 2002 and that he falls under the “unmapped” category.
Some X users, however, wondered what more the SIR team needs since the ex-Navy chief’s PPO (Pension Payment Order) and life certificate are already available in government databases.
“This is what is happening in most such cases. Admiral Prakash falls in the unmapped category,” South Goa District Collector and Returning Officer Egna Cleetus told PTI on Sunday.
Cleetus said she will go through the Navy veteran’s enumeration form on Monday. The authorities will reach out to him, she added.
During the ongoing SIR, Admiral Prakash (retd), a Vir Chakra awardee for his role in the India-Pakistan War of 1971, has been asked to remain present before the electoral officer to establish his identity after generating the “hearing notice”.
As the notice has sparked a discussion online, Admiral Prakash on Sunday wrote on X, “I neither need, nor have ever asked for any special privileges since retirement 20 yrs ago. My wife and I had filled the SIR forms as reqd & were pleased to see our names figured in the Goa Draft Electoral Roll 2026 on the EC website. We will, however, comply with EC notices.”
“May I point out to @ECIVEEP that (a) if the SIR forms are not evoking reqd info they should be revised; (b) the BLO visited us 3 times & could have asked for additional info; (c) we are an 82/78 yr old couple & have been asked to appear on 2 different dates 18 km away!!” he said in another post.
Responding to the post, Lt Col T S Anand (retd) wrote, “I believe Bugs in software may have caused, but if such a notice does come every citizen who has things in order can just go and show it, nothing wrong. So in case of Adm Arun Prakash Sir his PPO/Veteran Card is proof enough and for protocol the SIR team can go to his home.”
X user @LancerFlying, who identifies himself as Op Vijay and Op Meghdoot veteran, said, “His, YOURS and mine, PPO and life certificate is already on the Govt database. What more is needed by the SIR team than punch a few keys on the keyboard and access proof? Commonsense is missing, that is what is wrong!!”
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K'taka bypolls: Bagalkot records 43.75 per cent turnout till 1 pm, 37.17 pc in Davanagere South
Bengaluru (PTI): At least 43.75 per cent of voters in Karnataka's Bagalkot, where polling for a by-election is underway, exercised their franchise by 1 pm on Thursday.
Davanagere South recorded a turnout of 37.17 per cent, the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office said.
The bypolls were necessitated due to the demise of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South).
While the ruling Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP is aiming to wrest them and deliver a setback to its rival, which is currently witnessing an "internal power struggle" over leadership.
A total of over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes at around 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray.
In Davanagere South, over 2.31 lakh eligible voters are expected to vote across 284 polling stations, with 25 candidates contesting.
The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davanagere South.
The Congress has given tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Bagalkot candidate Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun from Davanagere South is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.
The BJP is looking to make gains in the bypolls and energise its cadre ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections. For the Congress, retaining both seats is crucial, as a loss could be seen as a negative verdict on the performance of the Siddaramaiah-led government.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti defeated BJP's Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
