By Maktoob
Karnataka Congress minister Rizwan Arshad has written to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka on Thursday seeking a suspension of Form 7 objections filed by private individuals during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging a pattern of bulk filings largely targeting Muslim voters.
Arshad raised concerns over the volume of objections filed after the publication of the draft electoral roll and called for an inquiry into applications that may have been submitted with false or malicious intent.
According to the figures cited in his letter, 29,360 Form 7 objections were filed between August 20 and September 24, with 93% submitted by private individuals.
Arshad said the pattern of objections raised questions about whether the applications represented genuine individual complaints or coordinated attempts to seek deletions from the electoral rolls.
This comes as Chief Minister DK Shivkumar and other cabinet ministers met with the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka and demanded an FIR over the mass deletion of voters in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) using Form 7.
The minister highlighted the concentration of objections in Bhalki and Babaleshwar Assembly constituencies, where 4,726 Form 7 objections were filed within three days, according to the figures cited in his complaint.
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