A dispute over the attempted deletion of 122 names from the electoral roll in Hyderabad’s Goshamahal Assembly segment has prompted AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to seek immediate action from the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that Muslim voters were targeted through fraudulent Form 7 applications.
Owaisi, who represents Hyderabad in Parliament, said the applications were submitted in bulk for voters listed at Booth Number 28 in Goshamahal. He alleged that the forms were pre-printed and sought the removal of eligible electors whose names had appeared on electoral rolls for years.
Speaking to ANI, Owaisi cited a communication issued by the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer on October 5. According to him, the memo drew the attention of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Commissioner, district collectors and election officers to instances of bulk Form 7 applications being filed before Electoral Registration Officers.
The memo, as described by Owaisi, said the applications were not genuine and directed officials to initiate action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act against those submitting false statements. It also called for an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules.
Owaisi presented documents that he said related to Booth Number 28. He alleged that all 122 voters named in the applications belonged to the Muslim community, although they had been included in electoral rolls since 2002 and were also present in the latest draft lists. The central allegations have not been independently adjudicated in the material supplied for this report.
The AIMIM chief also cited the case of Mirza Farooq Baig, an 85-year-old resident whose name was among those submitted for deletion. Owaisi said Baig was born in the locality, lived there with a family of 15 members and had remained on electoral rolls for decades. He described the application seeking Baig’s removal as fraudulent.
According to Owaisi, the forms listed Tudu Murty Janardhan as the applicant and included a phone number. He said the applicant was a BJP supporter, but the supplied report does not include a response from Janardhan or the BJP to the allegations.
Owaisi credited the local Booth Level Officer with intercepting the applications and refusing to accept them. He also said an AIMIM Booth Level Agent secured the documents and brought the matter to the party’s attention.
The dispute places responsibility on election officials to examine whether the Form 7 submissions contained false declarations, whether the applicants had legitimate grounds for seeking deletions and whether the targeted voters remained eligible at the relevant addresses. Form 7 is used for requesting deletion of a name from an electoral roll, making the verification process critical when applications are filed in bulk.
Owaisi has asked the ECI to enforce the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s directions, initiate legal action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and order an inquiry under Rule 20. The next steps depend on the election authorities’ examination of the documents and the affected voters’ records.
