Bengaluru: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V Anbukumar Thursday directed electoral registration officers (EROs) across 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka to initiate legal action against applicants who knowingly submit false declarations in electoral roll application.This follows a six-hour dharna by chief minister DK Shivakumar and his cabinet colleagues over alleged attempts to delete eligible voters through bulk filing of Form 7 applications during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.Congress called off the protest following the order. Shivakumar said: “It is a historical day for us. Our protest won’t stop till we can take it to a logical end.”The directive came after a day-long high drama at the CEO’s office, where Shivakumar staged a dharna from 2.45 pm until around 9 pm, demanding a criminal case and a probe into the alleged mass filing of applications seeking deletion of voters’ names. Congress state unit president BK Hariprasad, former CM Siddaramaiah and several legislators and MPs had also joined the protest.Anbukumar directed EROs to initiate action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against applicants found to have knowingly made false declarations in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8. However, he said officials must conduct an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, before initiating action.It was followed by allegations by Shivakumar at a press conference that bulk-filing fake Form 7 applications, which are used to object to the inclusion of names in electoral rolls or seek their deletion.Shivakumar , who cancelled a scheduled Cabinet meeting, alleged 50 lakh eligible voters had been targeted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He claimed minorities, Dalits and backward-class voters were particularly vulnerable to the alleged exercise.Accusing BJP and JD(S) functionaries of involvement, he demanded that the Election Commission identify and prosecute those responsible. “They have attempted to steal the voting rights of electors. This is vote theft,” he said.Shivakumar alleged that preprinted Form 7 applications carrying voters’ names, addresses and EPIC numbers had been filed in bulk in Vijayapura, Bhalki, Belagavi, Mysuru, Mudigere and Bengaluru between Sept 22 and 24. He claimed BJP functionaries were involved at more than 70% of booths.After submitting a memorandum to Anbukumar, the chief minister remained at the CEO’s office, insisting that action be initiated. The Cabinet meeting scheduled for 3pm at Vidhana Soudha was cancelled.“Protecting the rights of the state’s voters is more important than anything else. This responsibility rests on me,” Shivakumar said before the dharna ended.The CEO had initially sought time until Friday to examine reports from deputy commissioners, who also function as district election officers, and take appropriate action. Shivakumar said the state government would explore the legalities of a police investigation, adding that affected voters had already filed complaints and FIRs at several police stations.Citing alleged instances of bulk filing, Shivakumar earlier alleged that some individuals had submitted 84, 92, 241 and 423 applications each and questioned how they had obtained the electoral data.In Vijayapura City, around 14,000 applications were allegedly filed by BJP workers and staff linked to a BJP legislator’s office, he claimed. In Babaleshwar, six people allegedly filed more than 1,600 applications before withdrawing them after officials warned of legal action. In Bhalki, he alleged that 36 BJP workers had filed 3,244 forms in a single day.Shivakumar said affected voters had approached the police alleging forgery and that documents and videos relating to Mysuru, Belagavi and Bhalki had been submitted to the Election Commission. He alleged that an organised network had accessed voter data.
