Telangana Poll Officials Reject Bulk Form-7 Applications

The ruling Congress and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM accused the BJP of submitting bulk Form 7 applications which the latter rejected.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner and District Election Officer R V Karnan told PTI that the Form 7 applications were not received in bulk but in much smaller numbers.

In Goshamahal, the submitted forms were not even signed by the applicant, making them ineligible for consideration. In Musheerabad, one Balachander submitted Form-7 against 30 electors, but Karnan said they were found to be residing at the premises.

Alleging that BJP activists were attempting to remove the names of Muslim voters from electoral rolls by submitting Form 7 during SIR, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday warned of a stir stronger than the one at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Telangana Congress has complained to state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy that Balachander, who submitted the Form-7 applications in Musheerabad, belongs to the BJP.

Observing that the Form-7 applications submitted by Balachander were an attempt to unlawfully seek deletion of names of genuine electors, Congress sought legal action in the matter.

Congress sources said they had no knowledge of an alleged video showing a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Goshamahal rejecting Form 7 applications.

Hitting back at Congress, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao said no Booth Level Agents belonging to the BJP submitted any such Form 7 applications.

Rao said the SIR process is being conducted entirely by the state government machinery, and the Election Commission takes decisions on deleting votes only after conducting field-level inquiries into any objections.

He alleged that it has become a habit for Congress to praise the system for effective functioning whenever it wins an election, but blame EVMs and the SIR process whenever it loses.

State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy on October 1 said that about 29,000 Form 7 applications had been received during SIR, while 4.43 lakh Form 6 applications were received. Form-7 has to be submitted by an individual, he said. "If at all, if it is received in bulk from the side of political party, it has to be properly enquired into, properly verified...." he said. Sudharshan Reddy said  that 63 lakh of the 92 lakh voters who were issued notices during SIR have been found to be eligible for inclusion in the electoral rolls as of today. The process is underway regarding the remaining voters, he added.

Following the publication of the draft electoral roll on August 17 as part of the Special Intensive Revision, the process of issuing notices and disposing of claims and objections is being conducted from August 17 to November 5.