Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar’s assurance that no voter will be deleted from Karnataka’s electoral rolls without a proper inquiry offers some respite amid the controversy over bulk Form 7 applications. But it does not end the ordeal of voters whose names have been flagged. Between June and October, the Election Commission received around 91,000 applications seeking voter deletion. The volume and manner of filing warrant a thorough investigation. Congress has alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers submitted bulk applications disproportionately targeting minorities and Dalits. In Puttur, dozens of names were allegedly submitted on a BJP letterhead. In Vijayapura, third parties submitted death certificates against eight names, all issued by competent municipal authorities.
Legally, there is nothing wrong with an elector pointing out a bogus entry. But a legitimate right cannot become a licence for mass, unverified objections. The question that demands an immediate answer is: who supplies pre-printed forms in bulk to party workers? That BJP workers allegedly filed written apologies admitting they submitted Form 7 applications without proper verification after receiving police notices points to a conspiracy to purge voters from minority communities. The claim by the BJP and Janata Dal (S) that only the Election Commission can act on such complaints overlooks the distinction between an electoral objection and a criminal offence.
A false declaration attracts punishment under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Forgery, cheating, and using fabricated documents can additionally attract provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The High Court’s interim stay on Friday on proceedings against BJP booth-level agents in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram Assembly constituency is no green signal for fraudulent submissions. While criminal liability must be pursued, the immediate concern is the genuine voter. Many struggled to establish their eligibility during the flawed SIR exercise. The burden falls disproportionately on the vulnerable sections who may not receive a notice or fail to respond to it. They should not now face another round of scrutiny merely because somebody has submitted an unsubstantiated Form 7.
Where suspicion exists, the Election Commission should first verify the claim against available records. Only in unavoidable cases should the voter be summoned. The integrity of an electoral roll rests not merely on preventing bogus voters from entering it, but equally on ensuring genuine voters are not pushed out. The EC must ensure that no citizen loses the right to vote because of somebody else’s fraud or political design. (Source: DH)
