Police register case in Belagavi over Form-7 applications seeking deletion of 198 Muslim voters; similar allegations have surfaced from other parts of Karnataka during electoral roll revision
BENGALURU — Police in Karnataka’s Belagavi district have registered an FIR against BJP leader Ravi Patil and others over allegations that Form-7 applications were used to seek the removal of 198 Muslim voters from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
According to PTI, the complaint alleges that applications were submitted under Form-7 requesting the deletion of names belonging to Muslim voters from the voter list.
Police said the complaint specifically claims that the Form-7 process was used to target Muslim voters for removal from the electoral rolls. The case comes amid a series of complaints and police cases from different parts of Karnataka alleging misuse of Form-7 applications during the revision exercise.
PTI reported that at least three such cases have been registered in the state.
In Mysuru, an FIR has been lodged against a local BJP leader and others over allegations that they conspired to remove the names of the complainant, members of his family and other people belonging to the Muslim community from the voter list. The complaint also alleges that the actions were intended to hurt religious sentiments and create public unrest.
In Ballari, Assistant Commissioner Nandish, Booth Level Officer (BLO) Sumalatha and Sharanabasava have been accused of conspiring to submit 7,561 Form-7 applications seeking the deletion of names from the electoral rolls during the SIR process.
Meanwhile, in Dakshina Kannada district, Congress leader Rakshit Shivaram alleged that 279 Form-7 applications were submitted across 16 polling stations in the Belthangady Assembly constituency. According to him, 82 of those applications related to Muslim voters in the Ujire area. However, no complaint has reportedly been registered in connection with those allegations so far.
The controversy widened on Friday after Karnataka Congress MLA Tanveer Sait alleged that applications filed under Form-7 sought the removal of nearly 10,000 Muslim and Dalit voters from the electoral rolls in his Narasimharaja Assembly constituency.
The allegations have intensified the political and legal debate surrounding the ongoing electoral roll revision process in the state.
Form-7 is an application prescribed by the Election Commission of India that allows a person to object to the inclusion of a name in the electoral roll or seek the deletion of an existing entry on specified grounds.
