A major political confrontation erupted in Bengaluru over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls as Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Karnataka Congress President BK Hariprasad staged a demonstration outside the Chief Electoral Officer's office. Accompanied by ministers and legislators, Shivakumar presented documentary evidence regarding mass voter deletion requests and demanded immediate registration of police complaints against those responsible for submitting Form 7 in bulk. The standoff escalated when electoral authorities initially offered to proceed only after consulting legal counsel, prompting the Chief Minister to sit in protest directly outside the headquarters and declare that the demonstration would not end until criminal cases were instituted against the perpetrators.
Allegations of Bulk Form 7 Filings Across Districts
Form 7 serves as the official mechanism designated by the Election Commission to object to the inclusion of a name or request voter deletions from the electoral rolls. Presenting district-wise figures, DK Shivakumar alleged that field workers associated with the BJP received targeted lists of voters whose names were earmarked for removal. He stated that individual booth workers submitted between 80 and 200 Form 7 applications apiece to strip citizens of their voting rights. Shivakumar noted that the number of deleted voters in Karnataka exceeded the figures under the SIR process, following which notices were issued to more than 45 lakh voters, describing the ongoing mass submission of deletion forms as a direct assault on the democratic framework.
BK Hariprasad Questions Distribution as Rahul Gandhi Demands Resignation
Karnataka Congress President BK Hariprasad raised critical questions regarding the administrative trail of these election documents. Hariprasad remarked that multiple letters had previously been sent to the Election Commission regarding the issue without yielding any concrete regulatory intervention. He questioned how such enormous quantities of Form 7 reached party workers, asking whether the election machinery provided them or whether they were printed externally alongside specific EPIC numbers. Taking a sharp stance on the matter, Rahul Gandhi publicly criticized the reluctance of Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer to register an FIR and alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was dismantling democratic structures through the SIR initiative in coordination with the ruling party, demanding that Kumar step down from his post and become an approver.
Poll Body Directs Legal Investigation Amid Supreme Court Petitions
Faced with persistent picketing by the state leadership, the election administration formally ordered legal measures against individuals involved in submitting bulk Form 7 applications. Under the issued instructions, election officials are tasked with examining every submitted form, verifying the identities of the applicants, and registering formal criminal cases against anyone found violating electoral statutes. Following this administrative assurance, the Chief Minister concluded the sit-in. Meanwhile, the broader controversy surrounding SIR initiatives has reached the judicial system, with three successive petitions filed in the Supreme Court against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, including a recent petition urging the court to quash 14 administrative orders passed by him over the preceding 10 months.
