Interfered in poll process: Ex-CM Bommai targets DK Shivakumar over Form 7 row

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai has accused Chief Minister DK Shivakumar of interfering in the electoral process and using police cases to target BJP workers amid the row over bulk Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters’ names.Bommai alleged that Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukkumar had yielded to Shivakumar’s pressure and that the Congress government was creating a controversy before officials could verify the applications.“He has interfered in the electoral process and trespassed the powers of the Election Commission,” he said.Form 7 allows objections to a voter’s inclusion or requests for deletion from electoral rolls. The Congress alleges that it is being misused to target eligible voters, particularly minorities, Dalits and backward classes. The row escalated after Shivakumar staged a sit-in at the CEO’s office demanding action over alleged Form 7 misuse. Police have also booked BJP leader Ravi Patil and others in Belagavi over an alleged attempt to delete 198 minority voters through such applications.BOMMAI DEFENDS BULK APPLICATIONSBommai maintained that submitting Form 7 applications in bulk was permitted and that election authorities were responsible for verifying them. “It is the Election Commission’s duty to verify them,” he said.He accused Shivakumar of using the CEO’s clarification on existing rules to push police into registering cases against BJP booth-level agents and others.Bommai also questioned police action based on private complaints. He claimed the CEO had told him that only election authorities could initiate action over misuse of electoral forms and would seek clarification from the Chief Election Commissioner.He rejected allegations that Muslim voters were being singled out, calling them “an unadulterated lie”. He also disputed the Congress’s description of the affected groups as its traditional voters, citing the BJP’s previous victories in Karnataka.BJP DENIES ROLE IN MARKING VOTERS DEADAsked about reports of living voters being marked as deceased, Bommai said they had received notices and their names had not been deleted.Any errors were the responsibility of local booth-level officers, who are state government employees, he argued.“How can the BJP be responsible? The BJP does not have any powers to add or delete names. Only officers have the power,” he said.Bommai accused the Congress government of politicising the police, alleging that Shivakumar had interfered with a process overseen by the Election Commission.SHIVAKUMAR SAYS GOVERNMENT WILL PROTECT VOTERSShivakumar has maintained that his government is protecting eligible voters from wrongful deletion.At a programme in Piriyapatna in Mysuru district on Saturday, he accused BJP and JD(S) leaders of trying to win elections by depriving poor people of voting rights.“We have also taken up the fight to ensure that no person’s vote is deleted without proper documentation,” he said.Shivakumar said the CEO had instructed officials to verify every case before deleting a name. He pledged to protect the voting rights of minorities, Dalits, backward classes and economically vulnerable people.Asked about possible action against him over his visit to the CEO’s office, Shivakumar said: “If I have committed any mistake under the law, let them file a case. Let us follow the law as the law says. Let us respect the law.”- Ends