Karnataka SIR: BJP agent sought Form-7 deletions, verification against 7,561 names in Ballari; FIR registered
An FIR has been registered against a BJP-affiliated booth level agent in Ballari for attempting to delete over 7,500 names from the electoral roll. Election authorities rejected the mass deletion requests due to a lack of supporting documentation.
Why it matters
This incident underscores ongoing concerns regarding the integrity of electoral rolls and the potential for political misuse of administrative processes.
Claiming that more than 7,500 electors were either “absent or had shifted,” a BJP-affiliated Booth Level Agent (BLA) attempted to first fill Form-7 applications and, after his claims were not accepted by the election authorities, again sought “revision” of their names by submitting objections, even though these electors figured in the draft electoral roll of Ballari City Assembly constituency.
In this regard, an FIR, the sixth in Karnataka regarding misuse of Form-7 (seeking deletions), was registered at the Brucepet police station on October 1 after a Congress BLA complained that T. Srinivas Mothkur, Opposition leader of Ballari City Corporation, also the BJP BLA-1, had sought deletion of the names of 7,561 electors. The FIR books the accused under Section 353 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for “statements conducing to public mischief”.
Of the previous five FIRs, three including two in Belagavi and one in Mysuru, named BJP members as accused.
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