Bengaluru, September 30: The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka has come under scrutiny after more than 4,000 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of voter names were filed across several Assembly constituencies, with a large proportion reportedly targeting Muslim voters. The figures are contained in the Form-10 statutory report, which compiles objections submitted through Form-7.
The bulk applications have been reported in constituencies represented by legislators from both the Congress and the BJP. In Babaleshwar, 1,373 Form-7 applications were received on September 22, of which 1,363 were filed by just 10 individuals. Reports said many of the applications sought deletion of Muslim voters registered at polling stations where the objectors themselves were not voters.
A similar pattern was reported in Bhalki in Bidar district, where at least 30 people collectively submitted objections seeking deletion of more than 1,700 names on September 23. In Basavakalyan, one elector reportedly filed 32 of the 37 Form-7 applications received on a single day, while in Belthangady, another elector filed 21 applications targeting Muslim voters at one polling station.
Questions have also been raised over the manner in which some of the forms were prepared. In cases examined in Bhalki, the details of voters whose deletion was sought were reportedly already printed on the forms, while only the objectors’ details were handwritten. In another reported instance, a person whose name appeared as an objector reportedly denied being the individual named on the applications, raising questions that officials may need to examine.
The reason cited in the applications was generally “Absent/Permanently Shifted.” Under the electoral-roll revision process, Form-7 is used to raise an objection to the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll. The reported applications are objections and do not by themselves establish that the targeted voters are ineligible or that their names will ultimately be deleted.
The developments have intensified concerns surrounding the SIR exercise and the safeguards required to prevent eligible voters from being wrongly removed. Authorities are expected to scrutinise individual objections before taking any final decision on deletion, while affected voters can contest objections concerning their names.
