Deletion of Muslim Voters Amid SIR Process?: Alleged Fraudulent Form 7 Applications in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli

(The Quint has consistently been the leading news organisation breaking stories on communal violence, discrimination, and hate crimes. We need your support as we continue to bring out more such investigations and voices from the ground. BECOME A MEMBER.)"On 31 January, I received an envelope at my doorstep. I assumed it must have come via post or from the local office, as it usually does. When I opened the envelope, I realised these were Form 7s to delete the names of seven voters," Anjna Devi, a Booth Level Officer (BLO) from Mahaganv village in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district, told The Quint."All of these were Muslims who live in the village. They had already been cleared during the SIR process. I immediately called pradhan ji and brought this to his attention," Anjna Devi said.Amid the nationwide controversies surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, allegations of fraudulent attempts to delete Muslim voters have emerged from some constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, with the Opposition parties alleging a 'selective targeting of minority votes'.Form 7 (voter application forms for objections to the proposed inclusion or deletion of names in the existing electoral roll) applications accessed by The Quint from five villages in Chandauli's Sakaldiha Assembly constituency contain deletion requests for 84 Muslim names across five villages.The allegedly fraudulent or misleading applications were received by six BLOs across these five villages—Nagepur, Mahaganv, Khadehra, Nayikot, and Sakal Puranchi.While the applicants mentioned in some of these forms confirmed that they had submitted them, some applications contained either incorrect or no details of the applicants at all.Who submitted these fraudulent applications to delete Muslim names?How did the controversy come forth?How did the BLOs receive them and what action followed?The Quint spoke to the respective BLOs of the concerned booths from these villages, as well as some applicants, to understand the full picture.The reasons specified for the names to be deleted were either 'Unavailable' or 'Already exists'.In all the allegedly fraudulent forms, while the details of the voters were filled in digitally, the details of the 'applicants' were filled in manually.Govind Rai, under whose name at least 16 applications were submitted from Khadehra village for names to be deleted, denied having filled the forms."I was called by the Booth Level Officer (BLO) to ask if I had submitted applications to delete voters from my village. Somebody has misused my name and number. The signature on those forms is in English; I sign my name in Hindi," Rai told The Quint."After I denied filling any such forms, the BLO asked me to give it in writing that I know the people whose names have been given for deletion, and that I have not submitted any such applications. I did so without hesitation," he said.Rai, who runs a pharmacy, further added: "I am being framed. I do not know who has submitted these forms, I have nothing to do with this. I don't even live in Khadehra village."From Mahaganv village, Form-7 applications to delete the names of 27 Muslim voters from one booth were submitted under the name of Pintu aka Brijesh Kumar Pathak as the applicant. Pathak later wrote a letter to the administration saying that he had not filled any applications for voters to be deleted."My name has been listed as a BLA on booth 176 without my consent. I have no knowledge of this, nor have I signed any applications or forms," he said in his letter.Rekha, the BLO for the concerned both in Mahaganv, confirmed that after the application was submitted, they reached out to Pintu Pathak, who denied submitting any such application.'Justice Crying Behind Closed Doors': What Mamata Said in SC Against Bengal SIRAnjna Devi, another BLO from Mahaganv, told The Quint that she received seven applications under Form 7 at her doorstep before she left for SIR-related work on 31 January."The applicant's name was Prakash Rai, who is a poor labourer from the village. The phone number mentioned is not his. I reached out to him, and he said that he had not submitted any applications for the deletion of anybody's name from the voter list," she said.Anjna Devi further explained: "The people mentioned in these forms are residents of the village. All are Muslims, and I know these people. We had cleared them during the SIR process. I can't understand what was the need for somebody to submit Form 7 for them. We rejected the forms with due diligence because if I hadn't, I also would have gotten into trouble," she said.For 12 such names that were submitted from Naikot village, BLO Chandrakala Devi said that the forms she received did not contain details of the applicant, which raised suspicion."We made sure we reached out to every name mentioned in the forms. It was hardly 12 names, so physical verification was not that difficult. The claims were immediately rejected; none of the names received by us will be deleted," she said.The forms for 10 such names from Nagepur village were allegedly submitted under the name of one Babulal, with no further details about the applicant in the forms.Alok Kumar, BLO of the Nagepur booth who received the applications told The Quint: "Anybody can submit objections as per the available means, but we as BLOs reach out to the individuals before deleting names. Just because somebody has raised objections, it does not mean that their names will immediately be deleted. There is a process in place before doing that which we have to follow."The Quint also spoke to BLO (another) Chandrakala Devi from Khadehra, who said the forms were received and the complaints of the villagers were duly noted."I had received 16 such such applications for my booth. Upon confirming the identity of the applicants and the people whose names have been mentioned for deletion, it was found that these people are available. They have raised the issues with the concerned authorities and at the Panchayat level, and their names will remain in the voter lists," she said.Similar allegations have also emereged from other parts of the state. In a video being circulated on social media, Ashwani Kumar, a BLO from Etawah district, can be heard saying that he was pressurised and physically assaulted after being threatened to delete Muslim names in bulk."I was going on a bike when a car intercepted me. There was a Dhruv Kateria and Uday Kateria in it, along with a driver. They gave me forms and asked me to sign them, claiming that they do not live here and their names should be deleted from the voter lists. I know that some of them are residents. I said that if there are 2-4 people who don't live, it will have to be investigated, and I took pictures of those forms. They got angry that I took pictures, abused me, and asked me to delete the photos. They then started hitting me, snatched my phone and broke it. They dragged me and threated to kill me. They removed my shoes and tried to hit me with them. I was alone, what could have I done?" Kumar said.On 1 February, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav took to social media to share a video from another such 'applicant' from Hardoi's Gursanda village."On 31 January, I received a call from BLO Sangeeta Yadav to inform me that I had filled applications to delete 63 names from my village. I have not submitted any such applications. Somebody is doing this to frame me. I urge the Election Commission to take cognisance of the issue. I have submitted a complaint at the local police station, but I urge the EC to look into this," he said.Yadav also shared two such applications, claimed to be fraudulent, from Arjunpur village in Sulanpur district.On 4 February, Yadav shared a purported letter (whichb has not been independently verified by The Quint), in which a woman BLO from Amethi made similar allegations."This is an extremely serious matter that the Amethi BJP District President assaulted a BLO. He pressured the female BLO to forcibly split votes from the PDA community and increase votes of BJP supporters. When she did not comply with his wishes, he humiliated the female BLO and snatched her husband's mobile phone while filming the incident," Yadav claimed.A delegation of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Chandauli met with District Magistrate (DM) Chandramohan Garg on 1 February, alleging a "well-orchestrated conspiracy" aimed at removing names from the voter list at several booths across the district. The delegation submitted allegedly fraudulent Form 7 applications from various villages.Speaking to The Quint, Chandauli Lok Sabha MP Virendra Singh alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using state-level machinery to win elections."Such frauds are being unearthed by our booth-level workers at many places. The BJP knows that it cannot win against the SP in these constituencies. Hence, the state machinery is being used for this. They are targeting voters of particular communities and castes who are SP voters," Singh alleged.Singh further claimed that the BJP wants to strategically delete 100-150 votes from every booth."They want to pressurise the BLOs to commit such acts, but the EC has blindfolded itself like Dhritarashtra from the Mahabharata," Singh said."We have submitted complaints to the DM's office and the administration, but no action has been taken yet. Why have no FIRs been filed over such acts? There's a struggle to even get the police stations to accept complaints in this regard. If this is not dictatorship, then what is?" he alleged."Under SIR, who is distributing the pre-printed Form 7 in villages (through which someone can conspire to have another's name struck off by raising an objection)? The complainants in these forms have no known identity or whereabouts. By forging signatures, a conspiracy is underway to slice away opposition votes," he said."Names from the PDA society, especially minorities, are being struck off on a massive scale. Even the person whose name is being objected to has no idea that their name is being deleted, despite everything being in order," he said.In another post, Yadav urged that FIRs be filed in every village where such allegations have emerged.Responding to the report, DM and District Election Officer (DEO) Chandra Mohan Garg said that the Form 7 process has been carried out in a transparent manner."After the inquiry, it was found that the incomplete Form 7s obtained by unknown persons were neither received nor processed by BLOs. The process of Form 7 is being carried out in a transparent manner in accordance with the relevant provisions of Registration of Electors Rules,1960," Garg said.Bihar Special Intensive Revision: Higher Deletion in Districts with More Muslims

BECOME A MEMBER

'Found Envelope At My Door': BLOs Detail Attempts to Delete Muslim Votes in UP

Form 7 applications to allegedly delete Muslim votes from Chandauli's Sakaldiha stir up political storm amid SIR.

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from news and politics

Topics: Uttar Pradesh SIR S.I.R