India
oi-Gaurav Sharma
Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has accused of “criminal conspiracy” to delete eligible voters from the list, as a dispute erupts over alleged irregularities in the state’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The controversy erupted after reports surfaced that eight members of a Muslim family in Bengaluru’s Ulsoor area were allegedly targeted via applications to delete their names from the list of voters. The family of 32 members accused a local BJP leader of being behind the applications.
Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar accused BJP workers of criminal conspiracy to misuse Form 7 for deleting eligible voters, particularly minorities, amid irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise where over 1 crore names were deleted, prompting FIRs and protests.
Speaking on the issue, Shivakumar accused BJP workers of misusing Form 7, which enables objections to a voter’s inclusion or deletion from the roll of voters. He said his political, personal and official teams had examined the issue before approaching the election authorities.
According to Shivakumar, minorities, backward communities and other traditionally Congress-supporting sections were being targeted. He alleged that large numbers of Form 7 applications had been printed and distributed, with some people signing hundreds of forms without knowing the voters named in the application or knowing exactly what the documents were for.
The Chief Minister said that several FIRs had already been registered and urged the election officials to investigate every application carefully. He alleged that some of the applications included voters belonging to constituencies different from those of the people filing objections.
The issue has also raised questions over how voter details, including EPIC numbers, were allegedly acquired. Shivakumar alleged that voter names and identification details had been printed on some of the forms before details of the applicants were added.
Shivakumar Leads Protest Over SIR Exercise
The allegations came as Shivakumar increased his opposition to the ongoing SIR process in Karnataka. The draft electoral rolls reportedly feature more than 1 crore names deleted, which would take the state’s registered electorate to around 4.46 crore.
On Thursday, Shivakumar led Congress ministers and MLAs in a sit-in outside the office of Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar. A Cabinet meeting was also called off as the leaders sought an investigation into alleged bulk submission of Form 7 applications by people.
The protest was held for around five hours before the Chief Electoral Officer ordered action against applicants found to have knowingly provided false information.
In his memorandum, Shivakumar cited thousands of deletion applications from constituencies including Mudigere, Belagavi North and Bhalki. He called for a constituency-wise and booth-wise investigation to ascertain who submitted the applications and how the voter information was acquired.
Shivakumar raised concerns over allegations that some living voters in Vijayapura and Belagavi had been marked as deceased.
He said protecting the voting rights of eligible citizens should remain a priority and called for the revised electoral rolls to be compared with previous lists in detail.
The Chief Minister said that election officials must follow due verification procedures before deleting any voter’s name and maintained that the government would assist citizens in obtaining documents required to establish their eligibility.
