Published Oct 01, 2026 | 9:33 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 01, 2026 | 9:57 PM
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar submitted a representation to CEO Anbukkumar earlier the same day seeking an FIR and a time-bound investigation.
Synopsis: Karnataka CEO V Anbukkumar has directed EROs in all 224 Assembly constituencies to act against applicants who knowingly make false declarations in Form 7, following reports of bulk filings seeking to delete voters from minority communities during the ongoing SIR. The directive came hours after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar sought an FIR and a time-bound investigation into the alleged bulk Form 7 filings and led a sit-in at the State Election Commission office in Bengaluru. The State government is also expected to have an FIR registered under Sections 217 and 223 of the BNS.
The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has directed Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to take action against applicants who knowingly make false statements or declarations in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8, following reports of bulk filing of Form 7 applications seeking to delete voters from minority communities during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a circular issued late on Thursday evening, 1 October, Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar directed the EROs of all 224 Assembly constituencies to act under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against applicants who knowingly make false statements or declarations in writing. He said such action must be preceded by an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The direction came hours after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar led a sit-in at the State Election Commission office in Bengaluru and submitted a representation to Anbukkumar seeking an FIR and a time-bound investigation into the alleged bulk filings. The sit-in was called off following the issuance of the order.
Separately, the State government is expected to have an FIR registered under Sections 217 (concerning false information given to a public servant with the intention of causing injury to another person) and 223 (concerning disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Form 7 is used to object to the proposed inclusion of a person’s name in an electoral roll or to seek deletion of a name already on the roll. A voter can also use the form to seek deletion of their own name if they have permanently shifted, are enrolled elsewhere or are not an Indian citizen.
The Chief Minister alleged that pre-printed Form 7 applications were being used to target eligible voters, particularly from minority, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class communities. He sought an investigation into the source and use of voters’ electoral and EPIC details.
Earlier the same day, Minister Rizwan Arshad submitted a petition to the CEO seeking action over the alleged bulk filing of Form 7 applications during the SIR exercise. He told reporters that the Election Commission was permitting large numbers of Form 7 objections.
The Karnataka Congress subsequently put forth a dozen questions to the poll body on how such bulk applications were accepted and how confidential voter details were accessed by third parties.
Home Minister Priyank Kharge, who joined the sit-in with Cabinet colleagues and Congress MLAs, said the reports showed a pattern of “electoral fraud hatched by the BJP-JD(S)-ECI nexus to drop nearly 60 lakh voters from the electoral rolls in Karnataka.”
He said the pattern followed other “dirty tricks in the BJP-ECI VoteChori playbook” that the Congress had previously raised in the Mahadevapura and Aland constituencies.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
