Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer, V. Anbukumar, has instructed Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) across the state to initiate legal action against individuals found to have submitted knowingly false declarations in voter claims and objections. This directive, issued Thursday night from Bengaluru, comes swiftly after Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and several Cabinet members staged a protest earlier that evening, demanding a probe into alleged voter list manipulation.
The communication from the Chief Electoral Officer specifically targets applicants who have made deliberate false written declarations in forms such as Form 6 (inclusion), Form 6A (overseas electors), Form 7 (deletion or objection to inclusion), and Form 8 (correction/transfer). Anbukumar emphasized that such actions must comply with Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and must be preceded by a thorough inquiry.
The directive follows growing concerns over the bulk submission of Form 7 applications, which seek to remove names from electoral rolls, particularly during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process across Karnataka. Instances of numerous such applications, some allegedly non-genuine, had been brought to the attention of EROs.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, accompanied by several Cabinet colleagues and legislators, staged a dharna on Thursday evening at the Chief Electoral Officer's office in Gandhinagar, Bengaluru. The Chief Minister submitted a memorandum advocating for a criminal case and a comprehensive investigation into what he termed a conspiracy to delete eligible voters' names using Form 7. He vowed to continue the protest until a criminal case was registered and a serious probe ordered.
The CEO's statewide instruction was addressed to a wide range of officials, including the District Election Officer and Chief Commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority, district election officers and deputy commissioners in all districts, additional district election officers and commissioners for Bengaluru's North, South, and Central municipal corporations, the Additional District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban, and the Electoral Registration Officers for all 224 Assembly constituencies.
Image: mangalorean.com
đź“° Source: Mangalorean News