The 544 names in an envelope: A village in UP uncovers a massive bid to purge its voters

A month later, residents of Muslim-dominated Louharipur say none of their questions regarding the forms have been answered. The claim by poll officials that the documents were “fake” has done little to assuage their apprehensions, with members from nearly every family in the village figuring in the list of 544.

Villagers say that a local youth first spotted the BLO, Mukesh, with the forms, and confronted her about it. The forms were preprinted with EPIC (electors’ photo identity card) numbers and other details of the 544 voters, with the reason cited for seeking their deletion from the electoral rolls being that they had shifted out of Louharipur – a claim refuted by the locals.

The school where the forms were discovered, and copies of the filled forms made by villagers. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Not getting satisfactory answers from Mukesh, the villagers, who made a copy of the 544 forms, held a panchayat to discuss the issue the next day. “At the meeting, it was decided that we would lodge a complaint with the district administration,” says Mohammad Kamil (72), 10 of whose family members figured among the 544 in whose names the forms were found.

Fakruddin (80), a retired primary government school teacher, says all the 544 in whose names the forms were submitted for deletion of names lived in the village. “In fact, some of them are government officials living here.”

Also in the list of 544 were Nusrat (35), who was the village head of Louharipur between 2016 and 2021, and 12 other members of her family. She says that the youth who first noticed the forms is a graduate, and hence figured out what the forms were about. “If he hadn’t, maybe our names would have been deleted. The administration has taken no interest in this issue.”

Haji Kamil (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Villagers claim that after the panchayat meeting, they caught hold of Mukesh as she was “trying to take away the Form 7s from the school”. “It was a Sunday… Why was this being done on a Sunday evening?” says Nusrat. With the issue blowing up, police arrived from the nearby Kandhla Police Station. Villagers then approached Shamli District Magistrate (DM) Arvind Kumar Chauhan, who ordered an investigation into the matter.

The Indian Express met Chauhan at his office in Shamli. He said the case “didn’t have any substance”. “We got an investigation done and found nothing.” On whether Ved Pal, the sole applicant on all the forms, had been questioned, and the origin of the 544 forms, the DM said: “No, we couldn’t find him (Pal). The forms were all fake.”

Kandhla Police Station SHO Satish Kumar echoed Chauhan, saying “the issue had no substance”. The Indian Express traced 76-year-old Pal to Khandrawali village, around 3 km from Louharipur. Pal was not at home, and his wife refused to talk. When The Indian Express reached Pal over the phone, he said: “I don’t want to talk about the issue.”

Fakhruddin (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

An official in the local Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office, handling the SIR work, however, indicated there had been concerns. After they were approached by the villagers, the official, who refused to be named, said: “We called up the BLO and asked her what had happened… She didn’t have answers as to where the forms came from. We told her to be more vigilant in the future.”

Samajwadi Party Shamli district chief Ashok Chaudhary said he had submitted a complaint to DM Chauhan and SHO Kumar on the issue. “Why was a BLO, a government official, carrying these forms? Where did the forms come from? Why has Ved Pal not been found and questioned? They are trying to cover up the issue,” Chaudhary said.

Shamli MLA Prasann Kumar Chaudhary, whose RLD is an ally of the ruling BJP, claimed not to know anything about the issue. Back at Louharipur, the wait continues. Questioning official claims of having carried out a thorough investigation, Nusrat, the former village head, says: “Why wasn’t Ved Pal asked if and why he had filled the forms?… The administration doesn’t want the truth to come out.”

Mukesh, who continues to be stationed at her office in the Primary School, still clearing election-related papers, brushes away any questions about the Form 7s, saying: “I have a lot of pending work.”