Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar led a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Bengaluru on Thursday, demanding a criminal investigation into alleged bulk submissions of Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters from electoral rolls across the state.
Shivakumar, accompanied by Cabinet colleagues and Congress leaders, submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer before staging the protest. He alleged that pre-printed Form 7 applications containing voter details had been distributed and filed in large numbers, and claimed that a wider operation could remove 15 to 16 lakh eligible voters from the rolls.
The allegations have not been established by an independent investigation. In his remarks, Shivakumar cited what he described as admissions by local BJP figures, viral videos and documents relating to constituencies in Mysuru, Belagavi and Bidar. He said the Congress delegation had requested an immediate investigation and asked the election authorities to identify the source of the pre-printed forms.
Shivakumar gave several examples of bulk applications. He said 13,000 Form 7 applications were submitted and later withdrawn across two Assembly constituencies in Ballari, while another 13,000 were submitted and subsequently withdrawn in Bijapur, excluding Babaleshwar. He also cited about 3,000 applications in Belagavi North, 6,259 in Mudigere, 1,373 in Babaleshwar, 1,200 in Narasimha Raj and 2,285 in Bhalki.
According to the Chief Minister, the submissions were concentrated over three days between September 22 and 24 and allegedly targeted voters from minority, backward and Scheduled Caste communities. He said three FIRs had been registered on Wednesday and Thursday in Mysuru, Belagavi and Bidar. The Indian Express report did not provide details of the police sections or the status of those cases.
The memorandum referred to public statements attributed to Dr Ravi B Patil, the defeated BJP candidate from Belagavi North, and Jadav of the Belagavi District Yuva BJP Morcha. It alleged that both had acknowledged the filing of Form 7 applications through associates. Video clips showing pre-printed forms in Belagavi had also circulated on social media, according to the memorandum.
The Congress delegation has asked the election authorities to examine booth-wise and constituency-wise patterns, identify individuals submitting unusually high numbers of applications, check their relationship with the voters concerned and trace how voter details were obtained. It also requested an inquiry into any unauthorised access to or misuse of official electoral data.
The dispute comes during an ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise. Shivakumar said nearly one crore voters had already been removed from a draft roll and that 43 lakh notices had been issued during the notice phase, figures he presented as part of his case for scrutiny. The report did not independently verify those figures.
B K Hariprasad, Karnataka Congress chief, said the party would continue its protest until an investigation was ordered. Shivakumar said election officials had sought a report from the Deputy Commissioner and had asked for time until the following day. The Chief Minister said the Congress would continue its campaign until a serious investigation was initiated.