Form-7 applications filed in bulk in Koppa taluk, allege Congress workers

Congress leaders staged a protest in front of the taluk office in Koppa, Chikkamagaluru district, on Saturday, alleging that BJP leaders of the taluk had filed Form-7 applications in bulk seeking the deletion of 243 names from the electoral roll. They urged the tahsildar to book a case against taluk BJP president H.K. Dinesh and others.

Sudhir Kumar Murolli, the Congress leader who led the protest, told The Hindu that Mr. Dinesh and other BJP leaders had sought the deletion of 243 people on the grounds that they had shifted out of the taluk. “All of them are residents of the taluk. However, the BJP targeted them because they belong to minority communities. They wanted their names deleted from the electoral roll,” he alleged.

BLO among those targeted

Mr. Murolli alleged that among those targeted was Vazir Khan, a school teacher who also works as the Booth Level Officer (BLO) for the Kattemane booth in the taluk. “As the BLO belongs to a particular community, the BJP sought the deletion of his name,” he alleged.

During the protest, Congress workers urged the tahsildar to register cases against the BJP leaders for filing Form-7 with false information. They also submitted a memorandum seeking action against them.

Application withdrawn

Mr. Murolli said the taluk BJP president withdrew his application after the Congress took up the issue and staged a protest in front of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bengaluru, demanding action against those who filed false Form-7 applications. “The BJP leader withdrew his application, stating that he had re-verified the names he had earlier sought to delete and found that they were rightly entered on the electoral roll. This clearly shows that he admitted to filing wrong information,” he said.

The deletion of even a few hundred names in Koppa, part of the Sringeri Assembly constituency, can make a significant impact, as the victory margin in the last Assembly election was 201 votes. T.D. Raje Gowda of the Congress won the election against D.N. Jeevaraj of the BJP.