The Karnataka BJP has threatened to lay siege to police stations and district Superintendent of Police offices if the state government continues registering FIRs against party workers over the submission of Form-7 applications in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
BJP state president B Y Vijayendra made the statement after a party core committee meeting attended by state co-in-charge Kasam Venkatesh. He said the meeting discussed the Form-7 dispute, permanent residence certificates, forthcoming bypolls and the Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections.
Vijayendra alleged that the Congress government was creating confusion over Form-7 and misusing the police machinery by registering cases against BJP workers who had submitted the applications in accordance with Election Commission rules. He also referred to the Karnataka High Court having pulled up the state government over the issue.
“Despite this, if the government continues to register FIRs against BJP workers, the party will not remain silent. The core committee has decided to lay siege to the concerned police stations and the offices of district Superintendents of Police,” Vijayendra said, according to the report.
Form-7 is used to object to the proposed inclusion or deletion of a name in an existing electoral roll. The cases registered at police stations across Karnataka involve allegations that individuals, including BJP workers and sympathisers, filed fake Form-7 applications targeting particular sections of society. The report did not provide the number of FIRs or specify the police stations involved.
The dispute places the administration of electoral-roll objections at the centre of a wider confrontation between the ruling government and the Opposition. Police cases connected to Form-7 submissions could affect how political parties and individual voters participate in the revision process, while the reported threat to surround police offices raises the possibility of further political mobilisation around the issue.
Vijayendra also objected to the state government authorising Panchayat Development Officers and municipal commissioners to issue permanent residence certificates. He said such certificates should be issued only by tahsildars or officials of higher rank. The BJP president said his party would write to the government and bring the matter before the Election Commission.
The core committee also discussed preparations for upcoming elections. Vijayendra said the BJP would consult its alliance partner JD(S) before finalising candidates for bypolls. The meeting decided to appoint district in-charges and constitute election-management committees in every district.
On the Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections, Vijayendra said the government had announced reservation categories but that discrepancies and confusion remained in the reservation lists. He alleged that some decisions appeared favourable to the ruling party and urged the government to resolve the discrepancies, ensure transparency and avoid using administrative reasons to defer the polls.
The BJP president said the party would begin preparations immediately and appoint election in-charges for every district. District-level election-management committees would also be formed as part of that process. The report did not mention any immediate response from the Karnataka government or the police to the BJP’s allegations and proposed demonstrations.
