ECINet allows BLAs to go over claims limit, BJP agent files 35 Form 7s in 2 days
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Photo: IANS
New Delhi: Form 7 applications, which are used to seek deletion of names from electoral rolls, are allegedly being misused in Delhi during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, according to an analysis by The Hindu.
The report also found that Booth Level Agents (BLAs) were able to bypass the Election Commission’s limit of 10 applications a day during the claims and objections period by submitting forms through the ECINET portal, which does not appear to have a mechanism enforcing the restriction.
The functioning and centralised control of ECINET have already come under scrutiny after The Indian Express reported that two Election Commissioners had formally raised objections over several decisions related to the electoral roll process, The Wire reported.
An examination of Form 10, which contains public records of objections to voters’ inclusion in the rolls, between September 21 and 27 found that four individuals had submitted more than 10 applications in a single day. The ECINET system apparently does not prevent users from exceeding the prescribed limit.
Among them was Chitresh Chandoliya, a BJP BLA and son of BJP North West Delhi MP Yogender Chandoliya. According to the report, he filed 35 objections over two days, 12 on September 21 and 23 the following day. Chandoliya acknowledged that he would not have been able to submit more than 10 forms daily had he filed them physically at the Election Commission office. He said he was able to submit them online after logging in as an ordinary citizen through Aadhaar authentication, as the portal did not require him to identify himself as a BLA.
Election Commission guidelines permit BLAs of recognised political parties to submit applications in bulk but stipulate that no more than 10 forms can be filed per day after publication of the draft electoral roll.
The newspaper also visited some addresses against which Chandoliya had filed Form 7 applications. In one case, a resident named Karnail Singh was found at the address after his name was challenged. Chandoliya reportedly said he had sought Singh’s deletion because he lived far from the polling booth.
Another case involved 20-year-old Apoorv Dwivedy of Sangam Vihar, whose name appeared to have been challenged through Form 7 saying that he was ‘deceased’.
Further discrepancies were reported in Karol Bagh, where Form 7 applications filed by a BJP BLA reportedly cited the reason that voters were absent or had permanently shifted. The BLA said some individuals no longer lived at the listed addresses or had sold their properties, including women who had moved after marriage.
In Patel Nagar’s Part 38, Raj Singh reportedly filed objections against 13 voters on September 26. The report found that several houses shared the same address and that brothers Danish Khan and Toufiq Khan were still living at the address listed in the draft electoral roll, despite objections claiming that they had permanently shifted.
Similar concerns over Form 7 applications have emerged during SIR exercises in other states. In West Bengal, The Wire had reported that more Form 7 applications were disposed of than Form 6 applications, despite the latter being higher in number. It also reported that over 16 lakh appeals seeking deletion of voters cleared during the state’s SIR had been generated through bulk updates rather than individually filed by officials.