BJP pushes to delete Muslim, Dalit voters from roll in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: In Bengaluru's Shivajinagar constituency, hundreds of Muslim and Dalit voters might be deleted from the electoral rolls and lose their right to vote, The News Minute reports.

The Election Commission started unprecedented action against them on the basis of a complaint by the BJP. In the complaint, dubbed as malicious and politically motivated by the opposition, BJP claimed that 26,00o fake voters are on the voters' list who were actually shifted out of the constituency or dead.

After the final voters' list was published in January, EC started issuing notices to 9,159 voters, directing them to appear before it. However, the move is a violation of the poll panel's own Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) 2021. SOPs state that no deletion could be made from the voters' list within six months before the ending of the incumbent Assembly's term.

But ECI justifies its move in Shivajinagar, invoking a clause that deletions can be done under 'special circumstances'.

The controversy started in Shivajinagar after BJP sympathisers complained in October 2022 that 26,000 voters were fake, listing the names. TNM wonders how the private party procured the voters' list of Shivajinagar, where 40 per cent of the population are Muslims.

TNM published an investigative report revealing that a private agency named Chilume, with BJP ties, collected voters' data from several constituencies in Bengaluru, including Shivajinagar, illegally posing as booth-level officers (BLOs). It was understood that the 26,000 names were churned up by Chilume. Post the TNM report, which made an impact, the EC ordered a 100% check of all deletions and additions to the electoral rolls in Shivajinagar by December 24, 2022.

After the renewed voters' list was published in January, BJP approached EC, demanding the deletion of the 26,000 names brought by Chilume.

After this, Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, Manoj Kumar Meena, told TNM that EC officials cross-checked all 26,000 names and found that 9,159 had either shifted out of their old homes or died. Two notices were issued to the said voters to appear before the panel, and the notices stated that if they failed to appear by the given date, their names would be deleted.

But MG Devasahayam, retired IAS officer and chairman of the NGO People-First, posted a series of questions against the EC exercise.

"Why were these notices sent after the final rolls were published? The complaint was filed in October 2022; if the CEO wanted to take action, why was it not done before? Rules mandate that Form 7 has to be filled if anyone wants to raise an objection and delete a name from the existing electoral roll. Did the BJP fill 26,000 Form 7s? If they didn't, why did the CEO's office accept their complaint? Anyone can raise a complaint like this," Devasahayam told TNM.

Also, the Electoral Registration Office confirmed that the BJP did not fill any Form 7, but the CEO and elections officials at the BBMP maintain that BJP's complaint cannot be ignored since it is a 'special circumstance'.

TNM has visited some of the voters who received the summons and learnt that they received the notice without valid reason and they are residents of the constituency. Those who interacted with TNM included Muslims and Dalits.

Congress alleged that voters are being harassed, and the malicious exercise is happening in Shivajinagar because it is Congress's confirmed seat.