Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday called for a criminal investigation into what he described as a coordinated effort to remove voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), accusing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers of submitting applications targeting minorities, Dalits and Scheduled Tribes.
Shivakumar wrote the letter a day after the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on Wednesday revived its demand to replace electronic voting machines (EVMs) with paper ballots and announced a six-point programme, including public rallies and a petition to the President, against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for allegedly manipulating voter rolls during the SIR to subvert electoral integrity. “There are many instances of individuals filing multiple applications in different names for deleting voters. He called it the BJP and ally Janata Dal (Secular)’s big conspiracy to delete five to six million voters. He added that the details of objectors were subsequently filled. It alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were treating the Election Commission of India (ECI) as their puppets.
He said applications were submitted seeking the deletion of 4.5 million voters. He added that 14,000 such applications were filed in Vijayapura alone. He alleged that the bulk applications were filed between September 22 and 24 and those submitting them on behalf of other people were BJP workers. Shivakumar said in several cases, the names, Electors Photo Identity Card numbers and other particulars of the voters proposed for deletion appear to have been pre-printed on the Form 7 applications.
Minorities, Dalits and tribals are being targeted to remove their names from the electoral roll under SIR,” Shivakumar said. Shivakumar said cases had been registered in Belagavi, Bhalki, Mysuru and other places over what he called illegal attempts to remove names from the electoral roll. “BJP has printed large numbers of Form 7 to exclude votes,” he said. In a letter to the state Chief Electoral Officer, he said no eligible citizen, irrespective of religion, caste, community or social background, should be deprived of the right to remain on the electoral roll.
“As your chief minister, as a public servant, I’m trying to protect your votes, but I feel I have failed. I have to accept this.” Shivakumar called on Congress booth-level agents, legislators, party workers and voters to provide information about Form 7 applications allegedly filed to remove their own names or those of others.
“If this is happening in the constituencies of our lawmakers, it indicates that a major conspiracy is taking place across the state,” he alleged.
