SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: Amid the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Telangana, Congress has alleged that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Booth level Agent (BLA) tried to delete the votes of a Muslim Congress BLA and 30 of his family members by filling Form 7.
Telangana Congress Election Commission Coordination Committee Chairman Pulipati Rajesh Kumar submitted a complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy in this regard on Thursday, October 1.
The complaint alleges that BJP BLA S Balachander (Balu) of Polling Booth No. 210 of the Musheerabad Assembly Constituency submitted Form-7 applications seeking deletion/objection against the name of Congress BLA Shafiuddin and approximately 30 members of his family.
Kumar said that the applications were pre-printed and prepared in advance, rather than being individually and independently prepared by the concerned applicants.
“The circumstances raise serious questions regarding the source from which these forms were obtained, who prepared them, who supplied the information contained in them, and whether the applications were submitted with the knowledge and consent of the persons shown as applicants.” the complaint stated.
What is From 7?
Form-7 is the prescribed form for objecting to the inclusion of an elector or seeking deletion of an existing electoral entry.
Election Commission of India guidelines state that the applicant is required to provide the relevant particulars and that the onus of proof to substantiate the reason for objection or removal lies with the applicant.
The declaration in Form-7 also specifically warns that knowingly making a false statement or declaration is punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Forms may be circulated on a wider scale alleges Congress
Congress has called for a thorough investigation into the matter and raised concerns that Form-7 applications may have been prepared or circulated on a wider scale targeting Congress leaders, their family members and Congress-supporting electors.
Kumar said that he is not asking the Election Commission to presume these allegations to be true but requesting an investigation to establish the facts, including the source and chain of custody of the pre-printed forms.
Kumar has also called for a forensic examination of the forms to determine whether they were prepared from a common source.
He also called for examination of whether multiple Form-7 applications have common characteristics, common sources, common handwriting, common contact details or other indicators of coordinated preparation.
SOURCE : SIASAT
