Hyderabad, Oct 5 (PTI) The Telangana Congress on Monday complained to Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar seeking registration of FIR and probe by an SIT into suspected plan by BJP functionaries to indulge in large scale deletion of genuine voters during the ongoing SIR.
Congress, in the complaint, said it has come to its notice that a Booth Level Agent (BLA) of BJP in Musheerabad assembly constituency allegedly submitted Form-7 applications seeking deletion against the names of party BLA Sharfuddin and members of his family.
Chairman of State Congress Election Commission Coordination Committee, Pulipati Rajeshkumar filed the complaint.
The matter assumes “serious criminal significance” because the said applications were allegedly preprinted and prepared in advance, raising grave concerns about whether the said applicants had actually signed or consented to such applications, it said.
Similar pre-filled Form-7 applications were reportedly detected on October 1 in Bahadurpura constituency, raising concerns regarding a possible pattern of coordinated preparation and submission to delete genuine voters, it said.
Form-7 is a voter application form for objection for proposed inclusion/deletion of names in the existing electoral roll
The Congress alleged that a BLA of BJP in Goshamahal constituency submitted Form 7 applications to the BLO.
The BLO, however, did not accept them as they were not signed by the applicant, it said.
Suspecting an “organised conspiracy” to manipulate electoral rolls, Congress said there are serious apprehensions that pre-filled Form-7 applications might have been prepared and circulated through organised political channels, allegedly targeting Congress leaders, Congress BLAS, their family members and voters who support Congress.
It is necessary to investigate whether any BJP leaders, office-bearers, election-related functionaries, BLAs or other intermediaries were involved in attempting to cause the deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls through a coordinated process, Congress said.
“We are not asking the police to presume these allegations to be true. We request that the investigating agency independently investigate and establish the facts, including the source and chain of custody of the pre-printed forms, the persons who authorised their preparation, the channels through which they were distributed, and whether similar instances have occurred elsewhere in Telangana,” it said.
Congress requested the police commissioner to treat complaint as urgent, register an FIR and initiate a fair and time-bound criminal investigation against “every person found responsible, irrespective of their political position or affiliation”.
The Congress leaders had earlier complained to state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy over its allegation that a BLA of BJP at Musheerabad submitted Form-7 applications against 30 electors.
Hitting back at Congress, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao has said no BJP BLAs submitted any such Form 7 applications.
Rao said the SIR process is being conducted entirely by the state government machinery, and the Election Commission takes decisions on deleting votes only after conducting field-level inquiries into any objections. PTI SJR SJR SA
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