Karnataka Voter-Roll Dispute Prompts Official Review

Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on October 1 accused BJP and JDS workers of submitting bulk Form 7 objections as part of a conspiracy to remove eligible voters from the state’s electoral rolls. BJP state president B.Y. Vijayendra denied that the filings targeted eligible voters and challenged Shivakumar to substantiate the allegation, while election officials were directed to verify complaints and act against applicants found knowingly making false claims. Shivakumar made the allegation during a protest with Cabinet colleagues outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office in Bengaluru and later submitted a memorandum seeking an investigation. He said prefilled applications containing voter details had been distributed to party workers and claimed that minority, Dalit, Scheduled Tribe and backward-class communities were being targeted. He asked officials to investigate the source of voter information and the pattern of filings. The Chief Minister estimated that an additional 50 lakh to 60 lakh voters could be targeted. That was his estimate, not an independently verified count of applications or affected voters.