Karnataka SIR: Objectors used death certificates of people to seek deletion of names of voters with similar names

Basanagouda Patil Yatnal. | Photo Credit: File photo Initial investigation into the controversy of some living voters declared dead by third-party objectors who wanted their names removed from the electoral rolls in Vijayapura has revealed that some objectors had used real death certificates to seek deletion of names of voters with similar names.The controversy erupted after eight persons submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer (DEO) that third-party objectors had sought deletion of their names from the voter lists, claiming that they had died. The objectors, including some followers of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, expelled BJP MLA, had attached copies of death certificates along with Form-7 objections as per the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) norms.K. Anand, DEO, who received the memorandum, ordered an inquiry into the incident. Officers who were investigating the issue had two questions before them: to check whether the persons who claimed to be facing the objections were the genuine voters mentioned in the Form-7 applications or not, and if the death certificates were fake and who had issued them.It was found that the voters were genuine victims. Their addresses, mobile and EPIC numbers matched and the names of their relatives were in the electoral rolls. Interestingly, the death certificates were not fake, and were issued by qualified doctors working at real hospitals. A large number of these were issued by private hospitals while some were given by the city corporation. The deaths had taken place mostly at the hospitals, following a period of illness.The third-party objectors had obtained copies of these death certificates from the hospitals and relatives of the deceased, probably through improper channels, without knowledge or consent of the authorities or relatives.They then searched the electoral rolls to trace the names of people with same or similar names. When the name of the person and his father’s name or surname matched with that of a dead person, the certificate was affixed to a Form-7.The irregularities were discovered when a government servant faced a Form-7 objection from an unknown person.Allama Bagwan, a government school teacher, received a call from a fellow teacher, who was working as a Booth Level Officer. He said Ms. Bagwan needed to produce some documents to prove that she was a genuine voter. However, the cause for the objection was that she was declared deceased. “This was shocking to me. I invited the BLO to come to our house and confirm. The BLO took photographs and collected Aadhar, other documents, and service record details to prove that I was not dead,’’ she said.Investigating officers found at least eight death certificates of six women and two men that were attached with Form-7 applications. Copies were also attached to a letter written by Mr. Yatnal to the Electoral Registration Officer, reminding him to initiate a probe based on the objections.Officers found that that in all the death certificates thus submitted, there were mismatches between age, residential addresses, and names of relatives including parents, spouse or children. For example, the names of Abdul Razak and his father match in the death certificate, but his mother’s does not match. In Ms. Bagwan’s case, her husband’s name is mentioned as her father’s name in the certificate. Her mother’s name does not match. This was because the death certificates were of completely different people who lived at houses with different addresses and died in the past.“A lot of Muslims have names of the prophet Muhammad or his family members. It is also common among Muslims to name their children after local sufi saints like Subhani, Bande Nawaz or Alla Baksh. Therefore, there are a large number of people with similar names in the city. Unfortunately, BJP workers and Mr. Yatnal’s supporters are using this fact against us,’’ said Abdul Hamid Mushrif, Congress leader.He said that Mr. Yatnal’s supporters and some BJP leaders had submitted nearly 20,000 objections in the district and around 1,100 objections in Vijayapura city. Most of them are Muslim voters. Mr. Yatnal has openly claimed that he was convinced that Muslims were engaged in bogus voting and therefore, would seek their deletions. We have complained against them to the EC, Mr. Mushrif said.The police have registered FIRs against three persons, including Mr. Yatnal, in this case. A detailed inquiry report will be submitted to the EC, officers said. Published - October 11, 2026 06:26 pm IST