An FIR has named Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal over an alleged attempt to delete a living voter’s name from the electoral roll during the ongoing SIR exercise, as three complaints in the district raise questions about the verification of voter deletions.
According to the report, Abdul Razak, a 50-year-old vegetable trader from Vijayapura, alleged that a purported fake death certificate showing him as deceased was submitted to the Vijayapura City Corporation commissioner on September 3. The submission was allegedly accompanied by a letter on Yatnal’s letterhead seeking the removal of Razak’s name from the electoral roll.
Razak said he was alive and remained a voter in the Vijayapura City Assembly constituency. He sought action over what he described as the submission of a purported fake death certificate. The report does not state the outcome of the investigation or whether the allegations against Yatnal have been independently established.
Two other cases cited in the report involve alleged attempts to remove voters through Form 7 applications, the form used to seek deletion of a name from the electoral roll. Javed, a businessman from Nisaramaddi and a voter in Ward 30 of the Vijayapura City Assembly constituency, alleged that Girish Patil alias Biradar submitted a Form 7 application claiming that he did not reside at his permanent address.
Javed said he had provided his details to the Booth Level Officer during the SIR exercise. He alleged that false documents were created and submitted to support the request to delete his name. The report does not specify whether the application was accepted or whether the alleged documents were found to be false by an investigating authority.
In the third case, Hajilal Kambirsab Kottalagi, a farmer from Tikota, alleged that six people—Bhimu Golasangi, Vinayak Mamadapur, Mahesh Mukartihal, Anand Ambiger, Huchhappa Ganiger and Govind Mudanur—submitted Form 7 applications seeking deletion of his name. Kottalagi said he was a permanent resident of Tikota and alleged that false documents were created to claim that he did not live at his address.
Kottalagi also alleged that similar applications had been submitted in the cases of other Muslim voters. The complainants in the first two cases alleged that such attempts could affect the voting rights of Muslim voters and create differences between communities. These allegations remain subject to investigation and due process.
The dispute has also produced counter-allegations over the continued inclusion of deceased people in the draft electoral roll. At a press meeting on Thursday, Vijayapura City Corporation member Premanand Biradar alleged that the name of the father of Vijayapura district Congress general secretary Irfan Sheikh, who died about a year ago, continued to appear on the draft roll.
Biradar alleged that Sheikh was a Congress BLA-2 and that Razia Begum, who lived in the same locality, was the Booth Level Officer. He accused the two of allowing the name of a deceased person to remain on the roll and demanded an inquiry. Swami Vivekananda Sene president Chandrashekhar Chowdhary said his organisation would seek registration of an FIR against Sheikh and legal action over the alleged irregularity.
The competing complaints place the focus on the safeguards governing additions and deletions during the SIR exercise. The reported cases involve allegations on both sides: that living voters were targeted for deletion and that deceased persons remained on the draft roll. The next steps will depend on investigations into the FIRs, the documents submitted with the applications and the verification conducted by electoral authorities.
