Karnataka SIR: Over 4,000 Form-7 Deletion Pleas Filed, Many Target Muslim Voters

More than 4,000 applications seeking the deletion of voters' names from the electoral rolls have been filed across several Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, according to the Form-10 statutory report, which consolidates the details of objections raised under Form-7. A large share of the objections target Muslim voters, and in several constituencies a small number of individuals account for hundreds of applications each.

Form-7 is the prescribed form for objecting to an existing entry in the electoral roll. Under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the rolls, Form-6 is used to seek inclusion of a name, Form-7 to seek deletion, and Form-8 for corrections. The window for filing claims and objections closed on September 23.

In Babaleshwar, represented by Congress Minister M.B. Patil, 1,373 Form-7 applications were received on September 22 alone. Of these, 1,363 were filed by just ten people, seeking deletions largely against Muslim voters outside their own polling stations.

Between September 22 and 23, Huchappa Ganiger, an elector in Babaleshwar, filed 493 applications seeking deletions, largely against Muslim voters, across about 30 polling stations. Of these, 423 were filed on September 22, a day before the deadline, and another 70 on September 23. On that second day, another elector, Govindaraj Mundur, filed 413 applications across 33 polling stations.

The data suggests a similar pattern in Bhalki in Bidar district, represented by Minister Eshwar Khandre. At least 30 people filed objections seeking the deletion of more than 1,700 names on September 23, and several of them had also submitted multiple Form-7 applications the previous day. An elector named Santosh filed 120 applications on September 23, after filing 54 on September 22.

Objections have also been filed in constituencies represented by the BJP. In Basavakalyan, an elector named Siddappa filed 32 of the 37 Form-7 applications received on a single day, all of them against Muslim voters within one polling station (Part No. 163). In Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada, an elector named Umesh Bangera filed 21 applications, again all targeting Muslim voters in a single polling station (Part No. 47). The reason cited against the electors in these applications is "Absent/Permanently Shifted".

The applications in Bhalki also raise questions about how some of the objections were prepared. In at least two cases, the details of the objector were handwritten, while the names of the voters whose deletion was being sought were already printed on the forms.

Multiple Form-7 applications named "Vishnuvardhan Kote", an elector at Booth 129, as the person filing the objection. When contacted, however, the person said he was not Vishnuvardhan and identified himself as "Suresh". The EPIC details mentioned in the applications were linked, on cross-checking, to an elector named Vishnuvardhan.

Photographs of the physical Form-7 applications showed that only Vishnuvardhan's details were handwritten, while the details of the voters whose deletion was sought were already printed. The same pattern was seen in applications bearing the name "Santosh Eshwar", who has filed more than 170 Form-7 applications.

When the physical applications were cross-checked against the Form-10 data available for download, Vishnuvardhan's name did not appear in the list of objectors, while Santosh's name did. Officials in Bidar said many applications had been filed offline and might not have been digitised yet.

Before September 22, Form-7 applications citing shifting were generally few, usually around two or three per polling station, and in most such cases electors had sought the deletion of their own names on the ground that they had shifted. Bulk applications began appearing on September 22, a day before the deadline.

Filing objections under Form-7 is a legal right available to electors and political parties, and the rules do not bar an individual from filing multiple objections or from objecting to entries at polling stations other than their own. However, electoral law requires that notice be served on the person whose entry is objected to, and that the objection be decided only after giving that person a hearing. Officials have said the SIR process includes verification and statutory safeguards before any name is removed from the rolls.