Congress alleges bulk voter deletion attempt in Musheerabad

The Congress party has filed a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer S. Sudharshan Reddy regarding an alleged attempt to bulk-delete voters in the Musheerabad constituency. The complaint alleges that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) booth-level agent, S. Balachander, submitted multiple Form-7 applications to remove a Congress booth-level agent and more than 30 members of his family from the electoral rolls.

The Congress party claims the applications appeared to be ‘pre-printed’ or pre-filled, with family names and addresses printed while only the applicant’s name was handwritten. This has led to calls for a forensic examination of the forms to investigate their origin and whether they were prepared from a common source. The party expressed concerns that such actions could be part of a wider effort to disenfranchise specific voters.

In response, Chief Electoral Officer Sudarshan Reddy stated that the submission of Form-7 applications does not automatically result in the deletion of voters. He clarified that every request is subject to scrutiny and verification. Under Election Commission guidelines, if an individual files more than five objections, the Electoral Registration Officer must conduct a mandatory review to substantiate the claims.