Shivakumar alleges mass voter deletion conspiracy in Karnataka
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has accused the BJP and JD of conspiring to remove millions of eligible voters from the state’s electoral rolls through bulk objections filed during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, Shivakumar alleged that pre-filled Form 7 applications had been supplied to party workers and submitted to booth-level officers across several constituencies. He said voters from minority communities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and economically weaker sections were being disproportionately targeted.
Shivakumar put the scale of the alleged exercise at between 50 lakh and 60 lakh additional voters and demanded an immediate criminal investigation. He later went to the office of Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar with Cabinet colleagues, submitted a memorandum and began a sit-in seeking registration of cases against those responsible.
The Chief Electoral Officer subsequently directed electoral registration officers in all 224 Assembly constituencies to initiate legal proceedings where an inquiry establishes that applicants knowingly made false statements or declarations while filing claims or objections. The circular referred to reports of bulk Form 7 applications and allegations that some were not genuine, but did not attribute the alleged filings to any political party.
Under Election Commission rules, Form 7 can be used by an elector in a constituency to seek deletion of another person’s name on specified grounds, including death, permanent shifting, duplicate enrolment, being under age or not being a citizen. Objections require scrutiny by the electoral authorities and do not automatically result in deletion.
Shivakumar alleged that large numbers of forms carried voters’ names, addresses and Electoral Photo Identity Card numbers before details of the objectors were entered. He questioned how such information had been assembled and called for an investigation into where the forms were printed, who supplied the electoral data and whether it had been accessed without authorisation.
His memorandum sought constituency-wise and booth-wise scrutiny of unusually large batches of Form 7 applications, particularly those filed between September 22 and 24. It also asked officials to examine the identities of people filing multiple objections, their relationship with the voters concerned and applications that were returned or withdrawn.
The Chief Minister cited thousands of applications in constituencies including Belagavi North, Mudigere, Bhalki, Babaleshwar and Narasimharaja. He also alleged that large batches had been filed and later withdrawn in Ballari and Vijayapura after questions were raised about their validity. The precise statewide number of allegedly improper applications has not been independently established.
Shivakumar displayed copies of forms that he said demonstrated the pattern and alleged that some BJP workers had submitted dozens or hundreds of objections in their own names. He also accused JD functionaries of participating in the exercise. Both allegations remain subject to investigation.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra rejected the charge of wrongdoing and said his party’s workers were entitled to bring suspected irregularities in electoral rolls to the Election Commission’s attention. He argued that election officials, rather than political parties, ultimately determine whether a voter’s name should remain on or be removed from the rolls.
Vijayendra also alleged irregular additions to electoral rolls during the revision exercise and said requests for verification were legitimate where party workers suspected ineligible enrolments. The Election Commission’s Form 7 procedure requires supporting grounds and gives electoral registration officers responsibility for deciding objections after the prescribed process.
Shivakumar said the alleged bulk objections had surfaced while the state was already dealing with exclusions and discrepancy notices during the revision. He demanded that officials identify people responsible for any fraudulent filings, examine allegations of forged signatures and determine whether booth-level staff had faced pressure.
Police complaints over alleged irregularities involving Form 7 have been lodged in parts of Karnataka. In Bhalki, a case was registered after allegations that signatures were forged and mobile numbers were improperly entered on applications, adding a criminal-investigation dimension to the wider dispute over the revision process.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, Shivakumar alleged that pre-filled Form 7 applications had been supplied to party workers and submitted to booth-level officers across several constituencies. He said voters from minority communities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, backward classes and economically weaker sections were being disproportionately targeted.
Shivakumar put the scale of the alleged exercise at between 50 lakh and 60 lakh additional voters and demanded an immediate criminal investigation. He later went to the office of Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar with Cabinet colleagues, submitted a memorandum and began a sit-in seeking registration of cases against those responsible.
The Chief Electoral Officer subsequently directed electoral registration officers in all 224 Assembly constituencies to initiate legal proceedings where an inquiry establishes that applicants knowingly made false statements or declarations while filing claims or objections. The circular referred to reports of bulk Form 7 applications and allegations that some were not genuine, but did not attribute the alleged filings to any political party.
Under Election Commission rules, Form 7 can be used by an elector in a constituency to seek deletion of another person’s name on specified grounds, including death, permanent shifting, duplicate enrolment, being under age or not being a citizen. Objections require scrutiny by the electoral authorities and do not automatically result in deletion.
Shivakumar alleged that large numbers of forms carried voters’ names, addresses and Electoral Photo Identity Card numbers before details of the objectors were entered. He questioned how such information had been assembled and called for an investigation into where the forms were printed, who supplied the electoral data and whether it had been accessed without authorisation.
His memorandum sought constituency-wise and booth-wise scrutiny of unusually large batches of Form 7 applications, particularly those filed between September 22 and 24. It also asked officials to examine the identities of people filing multiple objections, their relationship with the voters concerned and applications that were returned or withdrawn.
The Chief Minister cited thousands of applications in constituencies including Belagavi North, Mudigere, Bhalki, Babaleshwar and Narasimharaja. He also alleged that large batches had been filed and later withdrawn in Ballari and Vijayapura after questions were raised about their validity. The precise statewide number of allegedly improper applications has not been independently established.
Shivakumar displayed copies of forms that he said demonstrated the pattern and alleged that some BJP workers had submitted dozens or hundreds of objections in their own names. He also accused JD functionaries of participating in the exercise. Both allegations remain subject to investigation.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra rejected the charge of wrongdoing and said his party’s workers were entitled to bring suspected irregularities in electoral rolls to the Election Commission’s attention. He argued that election officials, rather than political parties, ultimately determine whether a voter’s name should remain on or be removed from the rolls.
Vijayendra also alleged irregular additions to electoral rolls during the revision exercise and said requests for verification were legitimate where party workers suspected ineligible enrolments. The Election Commission’s Form 7 procedure requires supporting grounds and gives electoral registration officers responsibility for deciding objections after the prescribed process.
Shivakumar said the alleged bulk objections had surfaced while the state was already dealing with exclusions and discrepancy notices during the revision. He demanded that officials identify people responsible for any fraudulent filings, examine allegations of forged signatures and determine whether booth-level staff had faced pressure.
Police complaints over alleged irregularities involving Form 7 have been lodged in parts of Karnataka. In Bhalki, a case was registered after allegations that signatures were forged and mobile numbers were improperly entered on applications, adding a criminal-investigation dimension to the wider dispute over the revision process.