Bengaluru, 1 October

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday alleged that several BJP workers had filed between 80-200 Form 7 applications each in a span of days, and alleged that these applications were pre-printed and included details like EPIC numbers. 

Shivakumar said held some six to seven BJP workers responsible and demanded a criminal investigation. 

“At least 50 lakh Form 7s were printed in the State. In over 70 per cent of the booths, we've found BJP leaders collecting Form 7 deletion requests with no ID verification,” Shivakumar said at a press conference in Bengaluru “Pre-printed forms, supplied by agencies and handed to BJP and allied leaders… many from Delhi. Each form carries a real voter's name, EPIC number and booth details. The goal: wipe out eligible voters from the electoral rolls.”

"Data based on categories such as the poor, particular castes, particular communities, minorities and farmers, and identifying those who are unlikely to vote, have been leaked,” Shivakumar said, asking how this data was leaked. 

Shivakumar claimed that in Vijayapura district alone, more than 14,000 applications had been submitted in Vijayapura City, while about 1,634 applications were filed in Babaleshwar by six people and subsequently withdrawn after officials warned of possible legal consequences.

He said about 13,000 applications were submitted in Vijayapura City Assembly constituency over two days, alleging that the applicants included BJP workers and staff associated with the office of a BJP legislator.

Shivakumar claimed that four people filed 84, 92, 241 and 423 forms respectively.

In Bhalki, Minister Eshwar Khandre said, 3,244 Form 7 applications were submitted on a single day by 36 people, whom he identified as BJP workers. He cited the example of one Jagannath who allegedly submitted 241 applications. Khandre warned that 2 lakh voters faced deletion in his home constituency during the SIR. 

In Narasimharaja constituency in Mysuru, 10,000 Form-7 applications were submitted.

Although Shivakumar said some BLOs had returned some of the Form 7 applications, Minister Rizwan Arshad noted that 19.31 per cent may be deleted from Karnataka’s voter rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.

In a statement, Rizwan said that in Bhalki and Babaleshwar constituency, 87 per cent of the Form 7 applications targeted Muslim voters. 

“This is outright vote theft and an electoral offence aimed at creating a communal divide and disrupting communal harmony,” Shivakumar added. 

In his letter submitted to CEO V Anbukkumar, Shivakumar had said that there was the possibility of “direct involvement” of political functionaries, and urged the Chief Electoral Officer to investigate all Form 7 applications submitted. He noted that Ravi B Patil, the BJP’s defeated candidate from Belagavi North had admitted that his associates were linked to submitting the Form 7, as had BJP Belagavi Yuva Morcha President Jaddav. 

He appealed to Booth Level Agents, BLA-2s, legislators, political workers and voters to immediately report suspected Form 7 applications seeking deletion of their names or those of other voters.