BJP agent arrested in Jharkhand for bulk voter deletion attempts

A Booth Level Agent (BLA) for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vinay Kumar Mandal, was arrested and later released on bail in the Godda district of Jharkhand. He is accused of submitting approximately 200 Form 7 applications intended to delete voters from the electoral rolls during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The applications, submitted at Booth No. 231 in Pachrukhi village, allegedly targeted members of the Muslim community. A complaint was filed by voter Mukarram Ansari, who stated the targeted individuals are genuine voters. The Booth Level Officer (BLO), Sajida Bibi, reported that she refused to sign the forms without verification and discovered that her own name and her husband’s name were included in the deletion requests.

Mandal was arrested on September 3 following an FIR involving charges of forgery and intentional insult under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as violations of the Representation of the People Act. Mandal has claimed he submitted the forms after being instructed to do so and suggested that similar forms were submitted by another agent in a Hindu-majority village.