Civil society groups and the Karnataka Congress have demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) lodge criminal complaints over bulk Form-7 applications submitted in constituencies across the State, allegedly targeting predominantly Muslim voters.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president B.K. Hariprasad on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, demanding “suo motu action” to rein in unscrupulous elements for the “large-scale fraudulent action of misusing Form 7 to delete bona fide voters”.
Noor Sridhar, coordinator, SIR Virodhi Okkuta, demanded that CEO, Karnataka conduct an inquiry into these Form-7s and lodge a criminal case against those behind the Form-7s found to be fraudulent.
V. Anbukumar, CEO, Karnataka, was not available for comment.
Parallels to Aland case
As of September 28, 4,000 Form-7 applications were filed in the State, mostly targeting Muslim voters in constituencies represented by both Congress and BJP. A major chunk of them are from Babaleshwar, represented by M.B. Patil, and Bhalki, represented by Eshwar Khandre, both Ministers in the incumbent government. Ten people filed Form-7s seeking deletion of 1,363 names in Babaleshwar in just one day. In many cases, the Form-7s submitted had details of the voters “already printed”, with only the objector’s name handwritten. “This clearly indicates a systematic centralised operation to target voters from a particular community. This is a criminal conspiracy,” said Mr. Hariprasad.
This has many parallels to the Aland voter fraud case, where unidentified individuals filed Form-7s seeking deletion of 5,994 voters in the names of others from the booth, with neither being aware of it. An FIR was registered in the case and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by senior officer B.K. Singh uncovered an organised attempt to forge Form-7s. A former BJP MLA from Aland has been chargesheeted in the case.
EC complaint
Only authorised election officials can file criminal complaints regarding issues with electoral rolls under the law. No private individual can file a case, nor can the State government take up suo motu action. In the Aland case, following a complaint by Congress candidate B.R. Patil, the CEO, Karnataka, ordered a probe and, based on the findings, the then Returning Officer (RO), Aland, filed a police complaint leading to the FIR.
In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the incumbent Telugu Desam Party-led government formed an SIT to probe similar allegations of forged Form-7s by YSR Congress Party cadres in the Parchur Assembly constituency. The FIR was registered based on a complaint by the TDP candidate. However, following objections by the ECI, the SIT was dissolved.
Mr. Patil, whose complaint led to the FIR in the Aland case, said that such an organised attempt was a criminal conspiracy to disenfranchise voters and tamper with the election process in a democracy. “Like it did in the Aland case, the ECI must act and lodge criminal complaints in these cases,” he said.
Mr. Khandre, who represents the Bhalki Assembly constituency where 30 people filed Form-7s seeking deletion of 1,700 names, demanded that Bidar’s District Election Officer (DEO) conduct an inquiry and submit a report to the ECI and, taking its clearance, ensure an FIR is registered against those behind such attempts.
Published – September 29, 2026 09:40 pm IST
