Election officials in Telangana have rejected contested Form-7 applications submitted in Hyderabad’s Goshamahal and Musheerabad assembly constituencies, saying some applications were incomplete or challenged the inclusion of voters who were found to be residing at the addresses listed.
Form-7 is used to object to the proposed inclusion or seek deletion of a name from an existing electoral roll. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner and District Election Officer R V Karnan said the applications received in the two constituencies were not submitted in bulk, contrary to allegations made by the Congress and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In Goshamahal, the applications submitted were not signed by the applicants and were therefore ineligible for consideration, Karnan said. In Musheerabad, one applicant, identified as Balachander, submitted Form-7 objections against 30 electors. Karnan said officials found that the electors were residing at the premises concerned.
The dispute has emerged during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Telangana. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that BJP activists were attempting to remove the names of Muslim voters by submitting Form-7 applications. He warned of a protest larger than the party’s earlier demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The Telangana Congress has complained to Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy, alleging that Balachander belongs to the BJP and that the applications represented an attempt to unlawfully seek deletion of genuine electors. The party has sought legal action. Congress sources also said they had no information about an alleged video showing a Booth Level Officer in Goshamahal rejecting Form-7 applications.
The BJP rejected the allegations. State BJP president N Ramchander Rao said no BJP Booth Level Agents had submitted the applications and argued that the revision process was being conducted by the state government machinery. He said the Election Commission takes decisions on voter deletions only after field-level inquiries into objections.
Sudharshan Reddy said on October 1 that approximately 29,000 Form-7 applications had been received during the revision, compared with 4.43 lakh Form-6 applications. Form-6 is used to apply for inclusion in the electoral roll. The Chief Electoral Officer said Form-7 applications must be submitted by individuals and that any bulk submission attributed to a political party would have to be properly examined and verified.
The electoral-roll exercise has involved notices to 92 lakh voters. As of the latest official update cited by the election authorities, 63 lakh of those voters had been found eligible for inclusion in the rolls, while verification of the remaining cases was still under way. The draft electoral roll was published on August 17, and the disposal of claims and objections is scheduled to continue until November 5.
