Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday alleged that BJP and JD(S) workers had withdrawn and destroyed more than one lakh Form 7 applications after submitting them in bulk during the revision of electoral rolls, while BJP demanded that the Election Commission act against him for making what it called “unsubstantiated allegations.”
“Workers should tell who gave them the forms. “They have burnt them. All these things happened. Shivakumar also alleged that some applications falsely declared living voters dead and questioned how those submitting the forms obtained personal electoral details.
He alleged that BJP and JD(S) workers had received between 500 and 3,000 Form 7 applications at the constituency level and later approached booth level officers to take back forms submitted in bulk. Chief electoral officer V Anbukkumar has said that no voter has been deleted so far on the basis of Form 7 objections and that the applications would be examined through the prescribed process.
Shivakumar said that the alleged withdrawal of the forms raised questions about who had supplied the pre-filled applications and the voter information contained in them. He said an investigation was needed to establish their source and determine how they had been distributed. Investigation is required,” he said. In all places they have collected back more than a lakh such forms, threatening the BLOs,” he said. He said some people who allegedly submitted the applications did not know what they were signing or the meaning of markings on the forms.
“Let Yediyurappa, Bommai, Kumaraswamy, Shobha, Shobha Akka, Vijayendra and Ashok certify that, yes, we have given the forms… it is the duty of anyone who feels that the vote has been snatched to file a complaint… we have gone to the election commission. That is a different case. “We exposed the conspiracy by filing complaints.
The process itself in Form 7 is detailed, and they will take action as per the law. Because of this fear that cases are now being registered against us,” he alleged, it is.
Shivakumar said BJP leaders should themselves establish that they had submitted the required forms before questioning the action being taken over objections. He said voters who believed their names had been wrongly targeted had a responsibility to complain to the election authorities. So if they were in our position, what would they have done?” he said. The BJP leader said genuine voters should remain on the electoral rolls but accused the Congress of carrying out “mass mapping” during the revision and attempting to shape the rolls for political advantage.
