Hyderabad BJP booth agent booked for misusing Form 7 to delete 30 Muslim voters
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Hyderabad: Hyderabad Police have registered a case against a BJP booth-level agent over an alleged attempt to use pre-printed Form 7 applications to remove 30 Muslim voters from the electoral roll in the Musheerabad Assembly constituency during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
The accused, S Balachander, was booked by Chikkadpally police following a complaint from the electoral registration officer of Musheerabad. The case is the first reported FIR in Telangana over alleged misuse of Form 7 during the current revision exercise.
Form 7 is used to seek deletion of a name from the electoral roll or object to an existing entry. According to the complaint, Balachander brought 30 digitally pre-filled forms to polling station No. 210 on September 28. The applications already contained the details of the voters whose names were sought to be removed.
Election officials reportedly refused to accept the forms, after which Balachander allegedly left them at the polling station and departed. A field verification conducted on October 1 found that all 30 voters named in the applications were residing at the addresses recorded in the electoral roll. One of those targeted was a Congress booth-level agent.
The disputed applications were consequently considered liable for rejection. Officials are also examining the forms, voter details and signatures to establish how they were prepared and whether others were involved.
Balachander has been booked under Sections 217 and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, relating to furnishing false information to a public servant and cheating, along with Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Similar pre-printed Form 7 applications have surfaced in Hyderabad’s Bahadurpura and Goshamahal constituencies, prompting wider concerns over the misuse of the deletion mechanism. The Telangana chief electoral officer has directed district election officials to act against those found submitting false Form 7 applications.
The BJP has rejected allegations of an organised attempt to remove eligible voters from the rolls.
The controversy comes amid wider scrutiny of the SIR, which began in June 2025. Concerns have been raised that improper deletions could affect genuine voters and influence electoral outcomes. The Supreme Court has upheld the legality of the revision exercise while making clear that the Election Commission cannot determine a person's citizenship through the process.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have also demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to SIR-related decisions on 14 occasions over 10 months. The Election Commission has said such differences are part of normal internal deliberations.