FIR against Karnataka BJP BLA, officials over attempt to delete 7,561 voters

Bengaluru: An FIR has been registered against a BJP Booth Level Agent-1 (BLA-1), a Ballari City Corporation corporator and three election officials over an alleged attempt to seek deletion of the names of 7,561 voters from the electoral roll of the Ballari City Assembly constituency during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

The case was registered against BJP BLA-1 and Ballari City Corporation corporator Srinivas Motkar, Assistant Commissioner Nandeesh, Booth Level Officer (BLO) Sumalatha and case worker Sharanabasava. The FIR followed a complaint by Gowtham, a Congress BLA for Ward 23, Booth 94.

According to the complaint, the SIR exercise began on June 29 and the draft electoral roll was published on August 24, allowing voters to seek inclusion of names or file objections.

The complaint alleged that Motkar accepted a petition on September 21 seeking re-verification of 7,561 voters within Ballari City Corporation limits. Election officials had reportedly rejected the petition and issued an acknowledgement. Despite this, Motkar allegedly submitted Form-7 applications the following day seeking deletion of the voters’ names.

The complaint further alleged that election officials proceeded with the re-verification despite objections and acted on Motkar’s directions.

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Under SIR guidelines, a single BLA can reportedly submit a maximum of 30 Form-7 applications. However, the complainant alleged that applications covering all 7,561 voters were accepted and processed by election authorities.

A major allegation in the complaint is that around 98.08 per cent of the voters covered by the applications belonged to a minority community. The complainant alleged that the applications were intended to remove minority voters from the electoral roll.

The complaint also accused Motkar and the officials of colluding in the submission and processing of the applications and providing false information to election authorities to remove eligible voters’ names.

It alleged that the actions could affect voters’ electoral rights, create divisions between communities and hurt their sentiments.

The FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway.

With IANS inputs