Bengaluru: Three women from Vijayapura City, whose names were flagged as deceased voters by rebel BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal during the ongoing SIR, walked into the spotlight Wednesday to show they were wrongly tagged.“My name has been listed as dead. I came here to prove to you I am not,” said Mahabubi Peerazade Jahagirdar (35). “I was shocked and am still processing the fact that my name was listed as dead.” Mahabubi was accompanied by Malanbi Jamadar (57) and Raziya Shaikh (35), who faced the same grievance.The cases have raised questions over Yatnal’s claim that 1,054 voters in Bijapur City — which he represents in the assembly — were deceased and should be deleted from electoral rolls. Verification by the district administration found that in eight cases, including those of the three women, death certificates cited against the voters were found to belong to people with the same names.Yatnal had complained to Bijapur city corporation commissioner and assistant electoral registration officers on Aug 31. The district administration then directed verification, with officials visiting voters’ homes.K Anand, deputy commissioner and district electoral officer, told TOI the complaint was not investigated under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (RPA), as no Form 7 had been filed. “The MLA’s letter was rejected upfront for investigation under the Representation of the People Act,” Anand said.Instead, the complaint was examined under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Anand said the corporation commissioner also heads the birth and death registry and is required to verify complaints relating to death certificates. “On verification, the certificates were found to be of namesakes of the voters,” Anand said.Anand said RPA was not invoked against any of the 1,054 voters because Yatnal had submitted only a list of names and a complaint on his letterhead. Under RPA, false declarations can attract imprisonment of up to one year, a fine or both. Officials are seeking legal opinion on whether action can be taken over the complaint.But social activists want Yatnal to be penalised. “We demand criminal action against him,” said Vasu HV of Jagrutha Karnataka, an organisation tracking the SIR exercise. Yatnal did not respond to these allegations. Local activist Irfan Sheikh said verification showed the remaining 1,046 voters were also alive, except for one person who died after the claims phase.
