Bhalki

A large voter deletion campaign in Karnataka has raised serious concerns. Between June 16 and October 4, 91,278 Form 7 objections were filed across the state. Most of them targeted legitimate Muslim voters during the Special Intensive Revision process.

Police have registered multiple FIRs against the people filing these objections. In Bhalki, Bidar district, 32 individuals were booked for filing objections against 3,244 voters. Similar cases have come up in Vijayapura, Belagavi, Bengaluru, and Mysuru. In Belagavi, BJP leader Ravi Patil faces charges for filing Form 7 against 198 Muslim voters.

Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, held a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office on October 1. They asked for an immediate criminal inquiry into these bulk submissions.

Official Action Taken

Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar has told all Electoral Registration Officers to run inquiries under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. ECI guidelines say a Booth Level Agent can file only 50 Form 7s in a day. Many cases seem to have crossed this limit.

Activists from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights and My Vote My Right coalition have been watching the situation closely. They found that objectors often took back their objections when asked for proof. In Babaleshwar, six BJP members withdrew 1,634 Form 7s they had submitted.

Former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam said filing Form 7 is not illegal. But failing to prove the objection turns it into a criminal offence. As per ECI guidelines, the person filing the objection has to provide the proof.

Published: Oct 07, 2026

Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by Central Election Commission is facing serious allegations of mass voter deletions across the country. Critics say the exercise has targeted voters from religious minorities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

So far, around 13 crore voters have been removed from the rolls. That is a big number, and it has raised alarm among opposition parties and civil society groups.

Delhi numbers tell a worrying story. Out of 1.45 crore pre-SIR electors in the Capital, 47.56 lakh were left out of the draft roll. Among the 97.5 lakh who remained, more than 31 lakh have received notices. Nearly 13.8 lakh were flagged just because their details could not be matched with the 2002 roll. Others were caught by automated checks on names, parents or ages.

Allegations from Karnataka

Similar claims have emerged from West Bengal, where 27 lakh voters are said to have been removed. Data centralisation at ECInet in Delhi and denial of access to ground-level Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have only deepened suspicion.

I think the scale of these allegations cannot be ignored. If true, this goes beyond a routine clean-up. It amounts to nothing short of voter list manipulation. Election Commission owes the country a clear and honest explanation.

Election Commission of India has told officials in Bengaluru to act against applicants who knowingly filed false declarations during Karnataka's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.

In a letter to District Election Officers and Electoral Registration Officers, ECI pointed out reports of bulk Form 7 applications. This is the form used to remove voters' names from the voter list. The Commission said there were claims that some of these applications were not genuine.

Before taking action, a proper inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 is required. The Commission also referred to Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which clearly states that knowingly false declarations in voter applications can lead to legal action.

The issue has grown more heated as Karnataka's SIR moves into the claims-and-objections stage. Reports showed bulk deletion applications in constituencies like Bhalki and Babaleshwar. There were also claims that many of the targeted voters belonged to minority communities.

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has asked for a full investigation into the matter. This includes looking into possible criminal activity behind the alleged voter deletion plan.

Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has made serious allegations about a large-scale plan to delete names from voter lists during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, exercise in the state.

Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, Shivakumar claimed that applications have been filed to delete as many as 45 lakh votes. He called SIR a "big fraud" and said that minority, Dalit and tribal voters are being specifically targeted.

His words are hard to ignore. Shivakumar pointed to a bulk filing of Form 7 applications on September 22, 23 and 24, allegedly by BJP workers rather than real Booth Level Agents. In Vijayapura alone, he said, 14,000 such applications have been filed to delete votes.

Shivakumar also accused BJP and JD(S) of conspiring to remove 50 to 60 lakh voters across the state. He said FIRs have already been lodged in Belagavi, Bhalki, Mysuru and other places over illegal deletion of names from voter lists.

In a dramatic move, the Chief Minister threatened to sit at the office of Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar until a proper inquiry is ordered. "I will not come back till an inquiry is ordered," he declared, even though he had a cabinet meeting that same day.

He also asked Booth Level Agents, legislators and voters to immediately share details of any suspicious Form 7 applications filed to delete their names or those of other voters. He called for a full criminal investigation into what he described as vote theft and an electoral offence.

Admitting He Fell Short

Shivakumar also admitted publicly that he feels he has failed in his duty to protect voters. "I am trying to protect your votes, but I feel I have failed. I have to accept this," he said. He appealed to party workers and voters to send all evidence to his office so it can be taken to the Election Commission.