Hours after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar staged a dharna in front of the Chief Electoral Officer's office alleging large-scale voter deletion through misuse of Form 7, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka has issued strict directions to act against false applicants.
In a circular, Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar has written to all District Election Officers, Deputy Commissioners, Additional District Election Officers of BBMP and Bengaluru City Corporations, and Electoral Registration Officers of all 224 Assembly Constituencies.
The letter states: It has come to the notice of this office that there are instances of filing of bulk applications in Form 7 before the EROs. It is also alleged that such forms are not genuine.The CEO has directed that concerned EROs shall take action as per law against any applicant who has made a knowingly false statement or declaration in writing in Form 6, 6A, 7 and 8, as per provisions of Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Such action shall be preceded by an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the order says. The directive comes against the backdrop of allegations by Rural Development Minister Eshwar Khandre that in his Bhalki constituency, 36 persons, mostly BJP workers, had filed Form 7 seeking deletion of 3,244 voters in a single day, with one person filing 241 pre-printed forms. The Congress had alleged that eligible voters from poor, minority, Dalit and backward communities were being targeted.
The Chief Minister, along with the KPCC President and ministers, had met the CEO and staged a protest demanding FIRs and immediate arrests, a move that was criticised by Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy and the opposition.
Earlier today, launching a fierce attack over the alleged mass deletion of legitimate voters, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, accompanied by six cabinet ministers, met Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar, demanding the immediate registration of an FIR and a time-bound criminal investigation into the alleged bulk submission of fraudulent Form 7 objections during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Shivakumar was accompanied by ministers Lakshman Savadi, Madhu Bangarappa, Shivalinge Gowda, Priyank Kharge. Addressing the media following the high-level meeting, Shivakumar termed the exercise a brazen act of "vote chori" (vote theft) orchestrated by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)], accusing them of attempting to "backstab democracy.
"This type of criminal activity and a big conspiracy is coming from the Janata Dal and BJP. They are not ordinary people; they are the country's biggest criminals who are trying to steal the voters—vote chori—how they are doing vote chori. In constituency after constituency—especially where senior ministers represent the seat or where we won by huge margins—they are trying to delete 10,000 to 20,000 votes. How can they backstab democracy like this? Why did the Congress party bring freedom? Why did we give this Constitution? This is a massive question before the entire country," the Chief Minister said.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by The Daily Jagran. Credit: ANI)