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. 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. Shivakumar , who cancelled a scheduled Cabinet meeting, alleged 50 lakh eligible voters had been targeted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. 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.
This is vote theft,” he said. This responsibility rests on me,” Shivakumar said before the dharna ended. Congress state unit president BK Hariprasad, former CM Siddaramaiah and several legislators and MPs had also joined the protest. 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. 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.