More than 4,000 Form-7 applications seeking deletion of names from electoral rolls have been filed across several Assembly constituencies in Karnataka during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with a large share of the targeted voters appearing to be Muslims. The applications were filed in both Congress- and BJP-held constituencies, according to data from Form-10, which records details of Form-7 objections.
A significant number of the applications were submitted in bulk shortly before the September 23 deadline for filing claims and objections. In Babaleshwar, 1,373 Form-7 applications were received on September 22. Of these, 1,363 were filed by just 10 people, with most of the objections seeking deletion of Muslim voters outside the applicants’ own polling stations.
In Bhalki, more than 1,700 voter names were targeted through objections filed on September 23. At least 30 people submitted applications that day, with some of them also filing multiple objections on the previous day, the Muslim Mirror stated. The News Minute reported that 3,909 Form-7 applications were submitted across Babaleshwar and Bhalki on September 22 and 23, with more than 3,750 voters targeted for deletion.
Voters in Bhalki whose names were sought to be deleted have disputed these claims, saying that they have never lived anywhere else.
Vakeel Ahmed Munshi, a voter in booth number 111 whose name figured both in the 2002 electoral roll and the 2026 draft roll, told TNM, “People are deliberately targeting those from one community. How are they doing this? How can one person file objections against so many people?” the news minute reported.
Similar bulk applications were recorded in BJP-held constituencies. In Basavakalyan, one elector filed 32 of the 37 Form-7 applications received on a single day, all seeking deletion of Muslim voters from one polling station. In Belthangady, another elector filed 21 applications, also targeting Muslim voters from a single polling station. The reason cited in these applications was that the voters were “Absent/Permanently Shifted.”
The applications have also raised questions over how some forms were prepared. In Bhalki, some physical Form-7 forms contained printed details of the voters whose deletion was being sought, while information about the alleged objectors was handwritten.
