Hyderabad, October 6 (Daily Kiran) : Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), raised serious concerns on Tuesday regarding the misuse of Form-7 during a special intensive revision campaign for voter lists. He alleged that a scheme is underway to fraudulently remove Muslim voters’ names by submitting a large number of applications.
The Hyderabad MP lodged a complaint with Telangana’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), C. Sudarshan Reddy, claiming that Form-7 is being misused in the Goshamahal assembly constituency to deliberately remove Muslim voters’ names from the rolls.
In a letter to the CEO, Owaisi pointed out that there has been a clear misuse of Form-7 applications in Goshamahal, specifically targeting Muslim voters. He highlighted that at polling station number 28, an individual named Thudumu Janardhan submitted 122 Form-7 applications. Owaisi noted that these forms contained the names of voters already printed, indicating an attempt to remove them, while the applicant had included their name and contact number as the person filling out the form.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that the individual who filled out the Form-7 is a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), suggesting a targeted effort against Muslim voters. Furthermore, he mentioned that at polling station number 173, around 30 Form-7 applications were submitted without the name of the applicant, while the names of the voters being targeted were already printed on the forms. Owaisi expressed gratitude to both Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for rejecting these forms.
Despite this, he urged the CEO to take action against those involved, citing Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which addresses false information provided by applicants. Owaisi also referred to directives issued to all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) that mandate action against applicants who provide incorrect information.
Speaking to the media at the AIMIM headquarters in Darussalam, Owaisi stated that the 122 names submitted through Form-7 were included in the 2022 and 2026 voter lists, as well as the recently released draft rolls. Some of these individuals had received notices for discrepancies and participated in hearings.
He questioned, “Who is applying for Form-7? Why this hatred against Muslims?” Owaisi revealed that for several months, his party has operated a help desk at their headquarters, assisting voters regardless of religion or caste in the Goshamahal constituency.
The MP noted that the vigilance of BLOs and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) has thwarted such attempts in Goshamahal, but he expressed concern that similar misuse of Form-7 could occur unnoticed in other parts of Telangana.
He demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) take stringent action against individuals attempting to target members of a specific community through fraudulent Form-7 applications.
When questioned about a protest march by MPs of the India Alliance to the ECI office in Delhi, Owaisi stated he did not participate as he is not part of that coalition. However, he criticized the process for selecting the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), asserting that it heavily favors the government and needs reform. He called for amendments to restore the previous selection system, which involved a panel including the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.
Owaisi reiterated his stance that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign is flawed, labeling it as a backdoor approach to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
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