Karnataka SIR Flags Nilekani, Zerodha Founders and CNR Rao in Voter Roll Clean-Up

Infosys co-founder and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani, along with Zerodha founders Nikhil Kamath and Nithin Kamath, are among the prominent individuals whose names have been flagged for discrepancies during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.

Nilekani's entry was placed in the "Unmapped with Last SIR" category, meaning officials were unable to match it against the earlier electoral database. The Kamath brothers were flagged over a mismatch in their parent's name when compared with the older records.

They are not the only well-known figures to receive notices under the exercise. Bharat Ratna recipient and scientist CNR Rao was served a notice over a self-name mismatch: his name appears as "Prof CNR Rao" in the older rolls but as "Proff CNR Rao", with an extra letter, in the current records.

Padma Shri awardee and activist Harekala Hajabba was also issued a notice, which the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer said was prompted by a name mismatch and had since been resolved. The matter drew attention in Mangaluru, where Hajabba is known for building a school in his village with earnings from selling oranges.

Kannada actor Shivaraj Kumar's voter record was likewise reported to have been flagged as unmapped, with his name and his father's name cited in the verification issue.

Karnataka's draft list, published on August 24 as part of the SIR, excluded more than one crore names, amounting to 19.4 per cent of the state's electorate. The poll panel had said notices would be sent to 43 lakh people whose enumeration forms contained anomalies or who had not been mapped.