Karnataka Mulls SIT Probe into Alleged Voter Deletion Attempts

Bengaluru, Oct 9 : The Karnataka government is considering a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls through bulk Form 7 applications seeking the deletion of voters' names, amid an escalating political confrontation between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP and JD(S).

Nine FIRs have been registered in Ballari, Bengaluru, Bidar, Belagavi, Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Vijayapura and Udupi districts over suspected fraudulent applications seeking mass deletion of voters, official sources said.

The proposed SIT is expected to investigate whether the complaints registered across multiple districts are linked to a coordinated operation and whether the applications were submitted with the intention of targeting genuine voters.

The controversy intensified after Chief Minister D K Shivakumar alleged that the BJP had orchestrated a conspiracy to manipulate electoral rolls by distributing pre-printed Form 7 applications among party workers. The opposition has rejected the allegations, accusing the Congress government of using the police to intimidate those submitting applications.

The scale of the exercise has raised concerns over the integrity of electoral rolls. Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar said 91,278 Form 7 applications seeking voter deletions had been received as of September 24, the last date for claims and objections following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

However, no voter had been deleted on the basis of these applications so far, he clarified.

Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been directed to verify the identities of applicants and examine the circumstances surrounding each application before taking any action. The Election Commission has also instructed EROs to lodge complaints wherever bulk deletion applications are found to be fake.

Preliminary findings in some cases suggest that the applications may have been generated through an automated system, raising suspicions of a coordinated effort to target voters in specific constituencies, sources said. The alleged method, possible links between the cases and the identities of those responsible are expected to be key areas of investigation.

Shivakumar has claimed that the alleged operation was intended to remove genuine voters, particularly those belonging to minority, Scheduled Tribe, Dalit, backward and economically weaker communities. These allegations remain subject to investigation.

The government is also examining possible links with the alleged voter-deletion operation in Aland constituency in Kalaburagi district, where a CID-led SIT is investigating attempts to illegally delete the names of 5,994 voters during 2022-23.

Meanwhile, the BJP and JD(S) have approached Governor Thawarchand Gehlot and the Chief Electoral Officer, alleging that the Congress government is registering false criminal cases against people submitting objections during the SIR exercise.

The opposition parties contend that there is no legal bar on filing Form 7 applications in bulk and have cited an Election Commission communication issued on January 16, 2026.

Election officials have maintained that filing a Form 7 application does not automatically lead to the deletion of a voter's name. Any deletion can be carried out only after verification and an inquiry by the concerned ERO.

The proposed SIT probe is expected to bring greater scrutiny to the competing allegations of electoral manipulation and political intimidation, placing the spotlight on safeguards governing voter-list revision in Karnataka.