In Rajasthan, storm after BLO video: Congress alleges mass voter deletions, BJP says don’t hinder electoral process

Balram Yadav, Balram Yadav, president of the Congress unit in Alwar’s Kishangarh-Tijara, at the Alwar district collector’s office. (Express photo)

The Congress claimed it reflects a broader pattern of voter erasure across Rajasthan. The party alleged that the BJP submitted pre-filled Form 7 applications to delete thousands of minority and Congress-supporting voters in every constituency during the SIR – an allegation the ruling party firmly denied.

In response to the allegations against him, Suresh Saini, councillor of Ward 13 of the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (Heritage), denied any wrongdoing and claimed there was “large-scale fraud” in his area.

“Fake addresses are being used to register fake voters. I raised objections and applied for the removal of such names with supporting evidence. This amounts to voter fraud by the Congress,” he said.

Meanwhile, Balmukund Acharya, BJP MLA from Hawa Mahal, where the BLO’s purported video surfaced, held a press conference dismissing the Congress allegations as “baseless”. “It seems that Congress party leaders have lost their mental balance,” he said. “The Election Commission is an independent constitutional body meant to keep the democratic process alive. The Commission is working efficiently. The Congress won a seat in Rajasthan during the recent bypolls; why didn’t they object then? Congress needs to fight on real issues.”

According to data published by Rajasthan’s Chief Electoral Officer, the BJP has submitted 18,896 Form 7 applications for voter deletions, while the Congress has submitted two. Among those who claimed their names were deleted is Congress councillor Akbar Pathan.

A photo of alleged pre-filled forms.

Pathan, a councillor from Jaipur’s Ward No. 89, claimed while speaking to The Indian Express that a form submitted in his name falsely claimed he does not live in Jaipur. “The BJP BLA who submitted the Form 7 application in my name lives near my house and meets me every day,” he claimed.

At a press conference on January 17, Adarsh Nagar MLA Rafeek Khan accused BJP leader Ravi Kumar Nayyar, who lost the 2023 Assembly polls to him, of recommending the deletion of 400-500 names using “false information”.

“Everything was going smoothly with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) until two days before the January 15 deadline, when a conspiracy was allegedly hatched to delete Congress-supported voters’ names. In Adarsh Nagar, thousands of deletions were recommended in minority-dominated areas through forged Form 7s,” he alleged.

When contacted, Nayyar denied any wrongdoing, claiming the names recommended for deletion belonged to people living in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

In Alwar, the Congress alleged that around 10,000 Form 7 applications were submitted to the district collector’s office seeking deletion of Congress-supporting voters’ names.

“When I asked who had submitted these forms, officials refused to disclose the name,” claimed Balram Yadav, president of the Congress unit in Alwar’s Kishangarh-Tijara. “On checking a few forms, we found that both the applicant and the person whose name was sought to be deleted were Muslims. When we contacted these voters, they denied submitting any forms.”

Calls and text messages to district collector Artika Shukla went unanswered.

In Barmer, a complainant has approached the police, alleging that a Form 7 submitted in his name was forged.

At a press conference on Thursday, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully accused the BJP of submitting thousands of pre-printed applications overnight, calling it a “direct attack on democracy and the fundamental right to vote”.

The BJP dismissed the allegations as an attempt to “hinder the electoral process”. “This isn’t the first time SIR is being conducted in India,” Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Premchand Bairwa told the media. “People whose names are registered at two places, or who are deceased, are the ones whose names are deleted. It’s not right to play the blame game and hinder the process.”