16 lakh ‘photo-similar’ voter IDs deleted in Karnataka; Cong alleges minorities targeted

“But I insisted on knowing why my name disappeared. Then another senior official said that my voter ID was flagged under the ‘photo-similar’ category and such names were deleted,” she told indianexpress.com. The names of both my immediate relatives are on the list which was even more surprising as we have stayed in the same house for over three decades now, Mazra said.

Analysing photo-similar entries is a mechanism adopted by the Election Commission of India (EC) to weed out multiple EPIC cards with photos of the same person. According to Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena, around 35 lakh photo-similar entries were found in the state with some voters having IDs in two or three polling booths.

“After verification, we have deleted around 16 lakh entries,” he said, noting that the process of identifying photo-similar entries was taken up between the months of March to June this year across the country. This verification was limited to voters within an Assembly constituency and not across constituencies, Meena said. The deletions have been made based on verification carried out by booth-level officers.

EC sources said when multiple entries are flagged, officials are sent to both addresses to verify where the voter currently resides so that the second entry can be deleted.

However, Mazra contended that nobody visited her residence to verify her voter ID. “There is always someone at home,” she maintained.

Chickpet, the constituency in which Mazra resides, is among the three constituencies in Bengaluru for which the EC extended time to file objections to electoral rolls. Shivajinagar and Mahadevapura are the other two segments. The BBMP, following the voter data fraud case, has also appointed special officers to review the electoral rolls in these constituencies of the state capital.

Shivajinagar Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad said 18,900 names were deleted in his constituency. “While reviewing the new electoral rolls, we have discovered that many names deleted were of genuine voters,” he said, adding that deletions based on photo-similar entries were not fool-proof.

Owing to the deletions, the number of voters in the constituency dipped from 2.02 lakh in 2018 to around 1.84 lakh now. He contended that due process was not followed while deleting the names. “Deletions should be done using Form-7 (voter deletion form) and a mahazar (proof of procedures observed) should be conducted. But it was not done,” he said.

“There are numerous examples of names being deleted without intimating the voter”, he said, adding that the names of some voters were shifted from one booth to another without their knowledge.

These allegations were echoed by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Saleem Ahmed, who alleged a “larger conspiracy” was afoot to delete names of voters belonging to the minority community. “Addresses of the voters have been changed… We’re seeing such irregularities across the state,” he told a news conference. Apart from Bengaluru, such cases have been reported from Bidar, Vijayapura, and Hubballi, he added.

Meena dismissed the allegations, claiming that due process was followed while deleting names. “In case of any discrepancies in deletions, there is time for them to be addressed. Also, those with photo-similar entries can use Form-8 (application for correction of residential address and other details) to ensure that their names are included in the rolls,” he said.

Chickpet BJP MLA Uday Garudachar said he was not aware of any complaints over the deletion of photo-similar entries in his constituency. “Nobody has raised the issue till now. If I am alerted about it by any voter, I will inform officials to rectify the issue,” he said.

Curated For You

Dhurandhar box office collection day 5: Ranveer Singh film earns Rs 152.75 crore; set to become actor’s highest grosser

‘Concerts in India aren’t safe for women’: British travel influencer says she and her friend were ‘touched without consent’ at Post Malone event in Guwahati

My patient gave up sugar, thought jaggery was safer: Why her HbA1c jumped from 7.2% to 8.5%