Under pressure from protesters demanding extension of the deadline for disposal of notices issued under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka, Minister Ramalinga Reddy went to Freedom Park in Bengaluru on September 1 and promised that the State Government would take up their demands with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka.

Civil society groups, led by actor Prakash Raj, were protesting against, what they termed, high number of deletions during SIR draft roll and the tight deadline for disposal of notices. The protesters had demanded that the Congress-led government in Karnataka meet the CEO and represent their concerns to the Election Commission.

They gave the State Government an hour to send a representative to meet the CEO, saying they would continue and intensify the protest if their demands were not addressed.

Mr. Reddy, who arrived at the protest site following a demand by the protesters, said Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had sent him on behalf of the State Government. He assured the protesters that he would discuss their concerns with the CM who would place their demands before the CEO.

He said the Congress government was cautious about the SIR exercise after seeing what happened during the elections in West Bengal.