Three FIR-related complaints alleging attempts to remove living voters from electoral rolls have intensified a political and legal dispute in Vijayapura during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, including one case naming BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.
The case involving Yatnal concerns Abdul Razak, a 50-year-old vegetable trader and voter in the Vijayapura City Assembly constituency. Razak alleged that a purported fake death certificate showing him as deceased was submitted with a letter on the MLA’s letterhead to the Vijayapura City Corporation Commissioner on September 3. The application allegedly sought deletion of his name from the electoral roll.
Razak said he was alive and remained a voter in the constituency. He sought action over the alleged submission of the purported death certificate. The report does not state whether the allegation has been established or whether Yatnal has responded to it.
A second complaint was filed by Javed, a businessman from Nisaramaddi and a voter in Ward 30 of the Vijayapura City Assembly constituency. Javed 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 and alleged that false documents were created and submitted to obtain deletion of his name.
The third complaint was filed by Hajilal Kambirsab Kottalagi, a farmer from Tikota. He 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 used 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 claims remain allegations reported in the complaints.
The dispute has also produced counter-allegations over the presence of deceased persons on the draft electoral roll. At a press conference held on Thursday, Vijayapura City Corporation member Premanand Biradar alleged that 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 claimed that the two had committed an irregularity by allowing the deceased person’s name to remain on the roll and demanded an inquiry. The report does not indicate that the allegation has been independently established.
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 claims have placed the verification of electoral identities, deletion applications and the responsibilities of political booth-level representatives and election officials at the centre of the Vijayapura dispute.
