Bengaluru, Oct 5 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar, following the state Congress government’s allegations that the BJP and JD-S are conspiring to remove the names of voters from minority communities and oppressed classes, on Monday clarified that no deletions have been made from the electoral rolls based on Form 7 applications so far and said the voter concerned would be issued a notice before any decision is taken.
Form 7 is an Election Commission of India form used to object to the inclusion of a person’s name in the electoral roll or request deletion of a name.
Addressing a press conference here, Anbukumar said every objection seeking deletion of a voter’s name would be followed by a notice to the person concerned and an inquiry before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) takes a decision.
“So far, no names have been deleted under Form 7. The concerned voter will first be issued a notice and only after an inquiry will a decision be taken,” he said.
Anbukumar said 91,278 Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names had been received so far. He added that no cases had been registered specifically in connection with Form 7 applications, while cases relating to allegations surrounding the process are before the authorities and are sub judice.
Responding to questions about allegations by the Congress that BJP leaders had printed Form-7 applications and submitted them in bulk, Anbukumar said FIRs had been registered in connection with such matters and that he could not comment further as the cases were sub judice.
He said the EROs had been briefed about the rules and would act independently in accordance with the law.
“An objector can submit 10 forms in a day and a maximum of 50 forms under the SIR process. If more forms are submitted, the concerned ERO will conduct an inquiry. The ERO can reject the applications or take appropriate action. The ERO is an independent officer, and I cannot direct him,” Anbukumar said.
He added that if false forms were submitted, action could be taken. The ERO would have seven days to conduct an inquiry and take a decision, he said.
Anbukumar said 43,82,313 notices had been generated in the state as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Of these, 43,55,818 notices, or 99.4 per cent, have been served on the concerned electors, while 26,495 notices are pending service.
Hearings have been completed for 36,89,063 notices, accounting for around 85 per cent of the notices served, while hearings for 6,66,755 notices remain pending.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are visiting voters’ homes and the remaining hearings will be completed before October 12, he said.
The CEO said the Election Commission had so far received around 22.5 lakh forms under the claims and objections process. These include 9.10 lakh Form 6 applications, 97,200 Form 7 applications, and 11.98 lakh Form 8 applications.
Applications received up to September 23 would be disposed of according to the law, following which eligible names would be added or names found eligible for deletion would be removed, he said.
Anbukumar assured that eligible voters would not face any injustice during the revision process.
“If any eligible voter is left out, their name will be added again. We will conduct a special awareness campaign in this regard,” he said.
He urged eligible persons whose names are not on the electoral roll to submit Form 6 for enrolment.
Anbukumar said the SIR exercise was currently underway in Karnataka. The draft electoral roll was published on August 24, while the period for filing claims and objections continued from August 24 to September 23.
The disposal of claims and objections based on notices is under way and will continue until October 21. The final electoral roll will be published on October 27, he said.
He said the Election Commission of India had also issued a circular providing for a special drive after completion of the SIR process to enrol all eligible voters who had not registered themselves.
The special enrolment drive will begin after October 27. The dates and details of the exercise will be announced after October 15, Anbukumar said.
–IANS
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