BENGALURU: Karnataka has received 91,278 applications seeking the deletion of names from its electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), but no voter has been removed so far, the state's Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukkumar said, as the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP and JD(S) traded complaints over the requests.
The applications were filed on Form 7, which is used to object to a name on the roll or to ask for it to be removed, between June 16 and October 4, The News Minute reported on October 6.
Bidar district had the most applications, at 5,953, followed by Shivamogga with 5,936 and Dakshina Kannada with 5,534. Across all forms, including Form 6 for new voters, Form 6A for overseas voters and Form 8 for corrections, the revision has drawn 22.05 lakh applications, according to The News Minute.
"Just because objections have been filed, no name has been deleted so far" from the electoral roll, Anbukkumar said.
Each Form 7 goes through a set procedure. A notice is issued, there is a seven-day waiting period, and the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) holds a hearing and checks documents before deciding. Where an objector has filed more forms than allowed, the ERO can ask for them to be withdrawn. The limit is 50 forms per booth-level agent of a party (BLA-2) and 10 per voter of the constituency.
The final hearing is on October 12, all claims and objections are to be disposed of by October 22, and the final electoral roll is to be published on October 27, The News Minute reported. Officials have been told to act, after an inquiry under Rule 20, against anyone who files false claims, under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The CEO's office has not registered any FIRs itself; cases filed by private individuals are before the courts.
Complaints by Congress workers have led to FIRs against people who filed Form 7 applications in Malleswaram, Balki, Belagavi and Ballari, and some of those who filed them were arrested in Ballari and Balki, the Free Press Journal reported. In Ballari, Srinivas Mothkar, the opposition leader in the Ballari City Corporation, was arrested for filing 7,561 Form 7 applications.
The BJP and the JD(S) have filed a counter-complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer, accusing the state government of interfering in the electoral process.
The state has about 4.5 crore voters on its rolls. Notices have been served on 45 lakh voters over discrepancies, and more than 9 lakh new applications for registration are being checked, the Free Press Journal reported. Anbukkumar said the commission would act impartially.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar met Election Commission officials together with cabinet colleagues and Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, Country and Politics reported on October 5. Shivakumar alleged that the bulk applications sought to delete eligible voters and fell most heavily on minorities, backward classes, Dalits and the economically weaker sections, and said complaints from several constituencies ran into thousands.
According to the same report, the commission assured action against anyone who knowingly makes false statements in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8, and directed EROs to act under Section 31 of the 1950 Act. The commission also limited the approval of Form 7 applications to cases of death or duplicate entries, Country and Politics reported.
