Bhadrak

Opposition party BJD in Odisha has raised concerns about the current Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Party leaders say names of people from minority communities are being taken off the voter lists on purpose.

These claims focus on the misuse of Form-7, the form used to request name removal. Complaints have come from the Dhamnagar area in Bhadrak district. People claim local officials pressured booth level officers to delete names without proper checks or verification.

Request for investigation

BJD sent a formal notice to the Chief Electoral Officer. They want a clear investigation into these actions. The party is asking for the suspension of those officials from election work while the inquiry happens. The final voter list comes out on September 21. Because of this, the party says all disputed cases must be checked again to make sure everything is fair for every voter.

Residents in Bhadrak, Odisha, are worried about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. Many voters from Muslim neighborhoods say their names are being removed after people filed Form 7 applications against them.

Local citizens, including elderly residents, say these applications are often filed by people who live far away. "I have been voting for years, yet now I am told I do not live here," says 85-year-old Mir Alam Gir. Community leaders have talked to the district office. They believe the process is being used to unfairly block minority voters.

Concerns over voter list updates

The administration is currently checking these claims. Still, the mood in the area remains tense. Families feel stressed and frustrated while trying to prove they live in their homes to keep their right to vote. The situation has led to local protests, where residents are asking for a clear process and an end to what they see as a targeted effort to exclude them.

Reports from Bhadrak show a plan to remove Muslim voters from the voter lists. Booth-level agents are reportedly filing many requests to delete names using Form 7 during the current Special Intensive Revision process.

Voter Deletion Concerns

Local booth-level officers say they were pressured to approve these computer-generated forms. This happened even though they had already confirmed these voters were valid during home visits. Some officers noted that the process skipped standard Election Commission rules. Police have filed 5 FIRs, and opposition parties are asking for an investigation into these targeted actions.

Reports from Bhadrak, Odisha, say that booth agents for the BJP submitted many applications to remove Muslim voters from the voter list. These requests, sent using Form 7, have caused worry about the fairness of the voter list updates.

Election officials asked staff to double-check these names. This happened even though booth-level officers said the requests were fake. The Biju Janata Dal and voters filed complaints, but no criminal cases started against the people who filed the fake requests.

Election integrity concerns

This follows similar reports of mass deletions in states like Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, and Uttarakhand. Providing false information on Form 7 is a crime under Section 31 of the Representation of the Peoples Act. Even so, holding people responsible remains a big problem for voters.

Draft electoral rolls in Odisha caused a lot of worry after over 20 lakh names were missing. Many people, even long-term voters with valid EPIC cards, found their names gone from the list. Officials say these removals happened because of ASDD rules. This means the voters were Absent, Shifted, Dead, or Duplicate.

People like Minati Dangua from Bhadrak and Tibetan refugees in Gajapati are now unsure about their status. Officials say the process is clear and follows normal rules, but political parties disagree.

How to fix missing names

If your name is missing, you can submit claims or objections with required documents. You must do this by August 4. Final electoral roll will likely come out in September.

Odisha Chief Electoral Officer R.S. Gopalan met on Saturday to check the progress of Special Intensive Revision 2026. Ten senior IAS officers who are voter list observers joined the session. They talked about digitising data and publishing the draft electoral roll.

CEO said every eligible citizen must be in the final list. He told officials to handle all claims and objections with care. This is to make sure the rolls are accurate and have no errors.

Voter List Monitoring

Observers will now monitor the checking process in different districts. This includes Bhubaneswar Central, Jajpur, and Bhadrak to keep things clear.