Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress president BK Hariprasad Thursday alleged BJP MLA Abhay Patil wrote to the Election Commission (EC) seeking deletion of 2,500 names from Belagavi’s electoral rolls, all belonging to the minority community and described by the MLA as “Pakistanis and Bangladeshis”.Displaying a copy of the purported letter, Hariprasad said, “Who are they to seek their deletion?” He said EC replied that names cannot be deleted “just like that”. Hariprasad said there is no provision to seek deletion of names in this manner and that such demands are illegal.Hariprasad accused BJP and RSS of trying to remove genuine voters, the poor and those who believe in the Constitution from the rolls and alleged that Form 7 deletion applications were filed without signatures.“Names of some 7,000 voters were flagged for deletion, but not a single one of the forms bears a signature,” he said. He said in one booth alone, forms sought deletion of 50 people from one family.Pointing out that the form warns of punishment for anyone who files a bogus application, he said: “Whoever has filed Form 7 seeking deletion of voters’ names should be immediately punished. They should be arrested and subjected to legal proceedings.”He said the letter raises suspicion of Patil’s involvement and demanded action against the officials involved.Claiming BJP stood exposed by the letter, he alleged that PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had decided to remove around 13 crore names from the rolls across the country.Hariprasad said Congress will file a complaint with EC on Friday and has a member of an affected family from Belagavi to provide evidence. He said one victim of the conspiracy is a Congress worker. “We have very clear evidence. SIR is not being conducted properly anywhere. Those opposed to BJP are being targeted,” he said.There was no immediate reaction from Patil.
