Karnataka: 43.43 lakh SIR notices delivered, 84,900 Form 7 applications received so far

Bengaluru, Oct 2 (PTI) More than 43.43 lakh notices have been delivered to electors so far as part of the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls, while the EC has received 84,900 Form 7 applications till October 1, the CEO's office said on Friday.

Of the 84,900 Form 7 applications received between June 16 and October 1, none was filed as an objection to the proposed inclusion of a name, it said.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar on Thursday directed election officials to initiate action against applicants found to have knowingly made false statements or declarations in electoral forms, following allegations of bulk filing of Form 7 applications seeking deletion of eligible voters' names.

The development came hours after Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, along with his Cabinet colleagues and MLAs, staged a sit-in outside the CEO's office, demanding an FIR and an inquiry into the alleged misuse of Form 7 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.

Form 7 is used to file an objection to the proposed inclusion of a name in an electoral roll or seek deletion of a name from the existing roll.

As of October 2, the state had 4,49,81,740 electors on the electoral roll, comprising 2.23 crore male, 2.26 crore female and 2,864 transgender electors, the CEO's office said in a statement.

"A total of 43,82,306 notices have been generated across the state. Out of the notices generated, 43,43,137 notices have been delivered, while 39,169 notices are yet to be delivered, resulting in an overall delivery percentage of 99.11 per cent," the CEO's office said.

Of the notices delivered, 35,60,833 hearings, or 81.99 per cent, have been completed, while 7,82,304 are pending, it said.

According to data shared by the chief electoral officer's office, it received 8,85,952 Form 6 applications, 4,648 Form 6A applications, 84,900 Form 7 applications and 11,78,028 Form 8 applications between June 16 and October 1, taking the total number of forms received to 21,53,528.

District-wise data showed that Bidar recorded the highest number of Form 7 applications at 5,915, followed by Shivamogga with 5,760 and Dakshina Kannada with 4,746.

Bengaluru Urban recorded 3,026 Form 7 applications, followed by BBMP North with 1,689, BBMP South with 1,429, BBMP Central with 1,356, Bengaluru Rural with 1,354, Belagavi with 3,539, Mysuru with 2,828, Kalaburagi with 1,040, Tumakuru with 4,350 and Vijayapura with 3,788.

The last hearing will be held on October 12, while October 22 is the last date for disposal of claims and objections and completion of the notice phase, the CEO's office said.

At the request of registered and recognised political parties, lists of persons issued notices under the 'No Mapping' and 'Anomalies' categories have been published on the CEO's website, it said.

The CEO's office also said Anbukkumar had directed Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to take action as per law against applicants who knowingly make false statements or declarations in writing in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8.

Such action will be taken under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, after an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, it said.

The CEO's office also clarified that several electors may find their names in different parts of the draft electoral roll from where they were registered earlier because of rationalisation of polling stations and re-serialisation of electors.

"Electors who are unable to find their names in the previous parts are therefore requested to search using their EPIC number on voters.eci.gov.in or through the ECINET mobile application," it said.

EPIC stands for Elector Photo Identity Card and refers to the unique number printed on a voter's identity card.

The clarification came amid queries from electors who were unable to locate their names in the same part of the draft roll where they had been registered earlier.

The Congress has been mounting pressure on the Election Commission over what it calls "vote chori", alleging manipulation of electoral rolls and questioning the role of senior officials of the poll panel.

The Election Commission has maintained that the revision of electoral rolls is being carried out in accordance with the prescribed legal process.