New Delhi/Bangalore, September 19 (IANS), while replying to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations about the deletion of eligible voters in the Election Commission of Karnataka of India (ECI), clarified that no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public.
ECI Assistant Director Apoorwa Kumar Singh said on Friday, “There was no wrong deletion of voters in Alund, and an FIR was registered against suspected efforts of deletion in 2023 by ECI rights.”
He said, “Although the electorate of the constituency can fill Form 7 online to apply to remove entry from that particular constituency, it does not mean that the entry is automatically removed by submitting Form 7.”
According to the registration of the rules of the voters, 1960, the affected person did not remove any name from the roll without issuing a notice and gave him an opportunity to be heard, he clarified.
In the case of Alund, Karnataka, 6,018 applications were submitted online in Form 7 for deletion. On verification, only 24 applications were found to be real, while 5,994 were found to be incorrect. Accordingly, 24 applications were accepted, and 5,994 incorrect applications were rejected, Apoorwa Kumar Singh said.
He said that an investigation was conducted, doubting the reality of such a large number of applications for the deletion, and later on 21 February 2023, an FIR was lodged by the Election Registration Officer, Aland at the Alund Police Station.
“Based on the instructions of the ECI, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, handed over all the available information to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district on September 6, 2023 to complete the investigation.
Shared information included objector details such as form reference number, objector name, epic number, mobile number used for login, mobile number provided for processing, software application medium, IP address, applicant location, form submission date and time, and user construction date, “he said.
The CEO, Karnataka, is providing constant assistance to the investigating agency including any further information and documents, he said.
According to Records, he told Aland Assembly Constituency in 2018 by Subhad Gutder (BJP) and Bra Patil (Ink) in 2023, he said.
In the case of Rajura, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, a total of 7,792 applications were received for new voter registration. On verification, 6,861 applications were found invalid and rejected, he said.
He said that an inquiry was conducted by the Election Registration Officer, Rajura, doubting the reality of such a large number of such applications, and later a case was registered at Rajura Police Station.
“Electoral rolls are designed according to the law, and any improvement, deletion, or inclusion in the electoral rolls can always be made according to the procedure prescribed in the law. The Election Commission of India is to ensure that each character is nominated in the electoral role and no unqualified person is nominated,” said Apurva Kumar Singh.
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