Published Oct 07, 2026 | 9:10 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 07, 2026 | 9:10 AM
Allegations of severe irregularities have been raised against the ongoing SIR.
Synopsis: Amid a statewide row over irregularities in Form-7 applications, South First found two voters from Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram constituency still living at the address where objections claimed they had shifted. Similar allegations have surfaced in Dakshina Kannada and other districts, with police cases registered over alleged irregularities.
Amid widespread allegations of voter profiling and deliberate deletion of members of a specific community from the voters’ list in Karnataka, two voters in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram Assembly constituency found that they had “permanently shifted” from their addresses—without their knowledge.
Form 7 applications — Voter Application Form for Objection for Proposed Inclusion/Deletion of Name in Existing Electoral Roll — have been filled and submitted, stating that the two voters had permanently shifted from their addresses, though they still live there.
Allegations of bulk Form 7 submissions seeking voter deletions have been raised across Karnataka during the ongoing controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which the Election Commission of India initiated last year. Police have filed cases over such deletions in Belagavi, Bidar, Ballari, Bengaluru and Dakshina Kannada.
South First found two such voters in Malleshwaram still residing at addresses that Form 7 claimed they had permanently left. Both said they were unaware of objections against including their names in the voters’ list.
One of them was Mohammad Qudratullah of Guttahalli. The objection sought the deletion of his name on the ground that he had shifted from his registered address.
Also Read: BJP worker seeks ‘verification’ of 82 voters in Thirthahalli; 80 are Muslims
When South First visited the address, Qudratullah was found residing there.
Nawaz Khan Ghouse electoral details displayed
“This is our own house. We live here on the second floor,” he said, adding that his family had only been away for three or four days during the recent holidays.
Qudratullah said he was unaware that someone had filed a Form 7 objection against his name.
He said that before the objection was filed, he had checked his electoral details online and found them to be in order. He had also spoken to his Booth Level Officer (BLO) previously and was told there was no issue with his electoral entry.
Another voter whose electoral entry was objected to, Nawaz Khan Ghouse, said he and his mother, Salma Balkhi, were among those objected to.
“My mother and I have lived at this address for over 50 years. Our names are there in the draft electoral roll, so why should someone submit a Form 7, seeking the deletion of our names?” he said.
In Malleshwaram constituency, 778 Form 7 applications were recorded across eight polling booths. Vyalikaval police registered an FIR after a complaint filed on 2 October against GS Vasanthalakshmi, a BJP-affiliated booth-level agent (BLA), and another person over alleged irregularities in the applications.
Malleshwaram Electoral Registration Officer V Srinivas was unavailable for comment.
Also Read: Days after seeking deletion of Muslim and Christian voters, BJP leader withdraws Form 7 objections
Similarly, on Monday, 5 October, Karnataka Mahila Pradesh Congress President Sowmya Reddy lodged a complaint at the Jayanagar police station over 5,698 Form 7 applications submitted across the Jayanagar constituency.
Reddy alleged that 4,327 of the applications concerned residents of Ward No. 171 (Gurrapanapalya). The applications sought to delete voters from the electoral roll. With the Jayanagar case, the number of FIRs registered in Karnataka over Form 7 applications has risen to seven
Activist Vinay Kumar said Form 7, while intended as a safeguard against fraudulent entries, could itself be misused.
“Anybody on the electoral roll can object. What we are seeing is a pattern where people from certain communities are being targeted. The burden should not fall on genuine voters to prove their eligibility because somebody has filed a false objection,” he said.
Kumar also questioned the Election Commission’s handling of the issue. “The Election Commission was envisaged as an independent and autonomous institution, but it does not appear to be functioning independently anymore,” he said.
Calling for stronger safeguards, he said deliberately fraudulent objections should invite “exemplary punishment” to deter such actions.
Also Read: FIRs registered against BJP workers over bulk Form 7 applications
The controversy has also resulted in police cases in other parts of the state.
In Ballari, BJP corporator and booth-level agent T Srinivas Mothkur was booked for allegedly submitting bulk Form 7 objections to delete voters’ names. The 1 October FIR at Brucepet police station followed a complaint by a Congress booth-level agent, according to a report in The Hindu.
In Belthangady Assembly constituency in Dakshina Kannada, 279 Form 7 applications were submitted across 16 polling stations, according to Congress spokesperson Ayesha Farzana.
Farzana alleged that the objections largely concerned voters from minority communities and were submitted by a small group of individuals. She further claimed that subsequent field verification found the voters still residing in the locality.
Shaik Musa, a Belthangady resident, said he first learnt that a Form 7 application seeking deletion of his name had been filed when a BLO visited his home for verification.
“We submitted our enumeration forms and have been regular voters here. We were shocked to find pre-printed forms carrying our details, including EPIC numbers, submitted to the BLO seeking deletion of our names,” Musa said.
The matter was raised by Congress leader Rakshit Shivaram, who unsuccessfully contested the Belthangady Assembly constituency in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections.
Also Read: BJP seeks FIR against K’taka CM Shivakumar for dharna at EC office
Similarly, in the Puttur constituency, one representation concerning Polling booth 177 listed four voters, while another concerning Polling booth 123 listed 12 voters. Both documents bore the acknowledgement stamps of election authorities.
A representation on BJP Puttur Assembly constituency letterhead, dated 23 September 2026, lists four voters from Part 177 as “not residing” at their registered addresses bearing an acknowledgement stamp from election authorities.
Documents seen by South First show representations on BJP Puttur Assembly constituency letterhead submitted to election officials on September 23, listing voters as “not residing” at their registered addresses.
Congress spokesperson Farzana alleged that the booth 123 representation concerned 12 Muslim voters and that several were unaware their residence status had been questioned.
“The voters did not know this had been submitted against them. We are now informing them,” she said.
One of the voters named as not residing at his registered address, Shamsuddin, told South First that he works in Bengaluru but still maintains his family home in the constituency.
“My house is still here, and I voted here in the last election. I haven’t registered to vote in Bengaluru. I have only one vote,” Shamsuddin said.
He said BLO Kusuma had visited the residence for verification while he was away. Shamsuddin later spoke to the BLO and, according to him, was asked why his electoral registration remained in his home constituency while he was working in Bengaluru.
“Just because I work in Bengaluru, does that mean my vote here should be removed? My house is still here. I will go back to my village to vote,” he said.
Kusuma said that she had received a list of 12 voters and was told to verify their residential status.
“We received the list and were asked to verify the addresses by visiting the houses and checking whether the voters are still residing there. Their names are not being deleted merely because an objection has been raised,” she said.
She said the verification findings would be forwarded to the Electoral Registration Officer, who would decide.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar on Monday, 5 October, said that as of Sunday, 91,278 Form 7 applications have been received across the state.
On the deletion of voters based on Form 7 applications, Anbukumar said, “Just because someone has filed an objection, we have not deleted any name so far. To delete any name from the draft roll, the ERO has to issue a notice for a hearing. He has to call both the objector and the voter for the hearing. He has to verify the documents. After that, he can decide whether to delete the name. So, that is the procedure mentioned in the rules under Sections 16 to 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.No name has been deleted so far.”
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
