Pattern in BJP agents’ voter deletion requests. How Jharkhand officers saw it

The BJP has complained that the BLOs are at fault for not accepting the forms, adding a political dimension and setting up a standoff between ground-level election officials and BJP workers, which has now reached the Chief Electoral Officer’s desk.

The Indian Express tracked down some voters targeted for deletion and found that not only do they trace their presence in the village for generations but many among them are also verified in the 2003 intensive revision of the rolls. Under the Election Commission’s own rules, this should ease their inclusion in the ongoing SIR.

At one booth, a BLA turned up with 75 such forms and when questioned by the Booth Level Officer (BLO), he, by his own admission, promptly burned them on the spot.

In one booth alone, Booth No. 9 of Maheshtikri village in Godda, for example, 25 such forms were filed against voters by one BJP BLA, Sanjeev Kumar Roshan. The Indian Express spoke to eight of these voters, and all of them expressed fears of being disenfranchised or cut off from the roster of government schemes.

In a neighbouring booth, a BLA turned up with 75 such forms, and when questioned by the Booth Level Officer (BLO), he, by his own admission, promptly burned them on the spot.

Sriman Marandi, the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Basantrai, the Godda division under which the booths fall, told The Indian Express that, in his capacity as Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), he had received complaints from four booths – Maheshtikri, Pachua Kita, Lochni and Baghakol. An inquiry report would be submitted after a field verification, Marandi said, adding BLOs had been told not to act on forms “because we did not know the source of the forms”. “They (the BLAs) could have first submitted a written complaint to the SDO, or to me… asking us to investigate,” he said.

Godda MLA Sanjay Prasad Yadav of the RJD said he has spoken to Marandi and was told “action is being taken”.

Objections raised by BLOs

The SIR exercise began in Jharkhand on June 30, with a draft list published on August 5 that saw 16.48% of the voters (around 43 lakh) deleted from the electoral rolls. The claims and objections round is currently on, and will end on September 4.

A deletion via Form 7 can be sought on several grounds such as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, not Indian citizen, etc. The applicant does not need to submit any evidence but has to sign a declaration that says: “I HEREBY DECLARE that to the best of my knowledge and belief… I am aware that making a statement or declaration which is false and which I know or believe to be false or do not believe to be true, is punishable…”

The BLO of Maheshtikri, Anisha Bano, told The Indian Express that a BLA of the BJP brought around 25 forms to her which were not “original”. “The BLA said the forms were for those voters who are not in the village… and that 50 more such forms will be brought later… All forms had Muslim voters.”

She accepted the 25 forms, Bano said, but later, BLOs were instructed by BDO Marandi that such documents were not official forms and should not be accepted. So she declined to take the rest.

Besides, Bano added, all the voters against whom objections were raised had been mapped to the 2003 electoral roll.

A deletion via Form 7 can be sought on four grounds – Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate.

Pachua Kita BLO Mukhtar said he had been approached by a BLA with around 75 Form 7s, which were different from what they had officially received from the block office. “The BLA asked me what the form was for, and said he had been told it was for adding names. I told him that, rather, you are being made a witness that this person’s name should be deleted,” Mukhtar said, adding that he did not accept the forms.

Mukhtar said almost all the names on the 75 forms were of Muslims, and most were mapped to the 2003 list. When questioned, the BLA who had tried to submit the 75 forms to him “burned all of them”, he added.

‘This is our home’

In Maheshtikri village, several villagers have submitted a complaint to BDO Marandi regarding mass submission of Form 7s against them in Booth No. 9.

Abdul Mannan Khan, 70, is among them. He and his family have lived in the village for generations, he said, and his name was in the 2003 roll. “This is our home and we are Jharkhandi too. So how can our names be deleted?” BLO Bano has assured them their names will stay, Khan said, but he is afraid he may lose government benefits.

Abdul Mannan Khan, 70, said he and his family have lived in the village for generations.

Mohammad Naushad, 50, said his grandparents were mapped to the 2003 electoral roll, while he spent his childhood in Maheshtikri and left home only to find work as a labourer. He continues to vote in Jharkhand, Naushad said. “I go where I get work… What if our names are deleted and we do not get government benefits? What if we are not considered Indian citizens?”

Mohammad Naushad’s father Mohammad Shafiq, 80, said he, too, is a registered voter in Maheshtikri.

Naushad’s father Mohammad Shafiq, 80, said he is a registered voter in Maheshtikri as well, along with wife Bibi Basilan, 65. “I have been voting here since I turned 18… We have been here so many years. We have the khatian (land proof of being a Jharkhandi), every record and paper. Now there is suddenly an obstacle.”

Added Basilan: “Our family will be destroyed… Where will we go?… What kind of system have they created against voters?”

Mohammad Aslam, 65, also a labourer, said he and all the eligible members of his family have always voted in the village. On the Form 7 application, he said: “It seems like an attempt to establish we do not belong here.”

About what may follow, Aslam is anxious. “We aren’t educated enough to understand the consequences.”

Mirza Galeeb, 61, who works in Ghaziabad near Delhi, but is back home, said he was born in Maheshtikri and has spent most of his life in the village. “Everything is here,” he said.

Shamim, around 45, a labourer, said he only came to know about the Form 7 application against him when an anganwadi worker told him. He was surprised, he said. “Everything is fine online with my application. I also have a receipt.”

While he travels outside Jharkhand for work, his family has been based in the state, Shamim said. “Our forefathers lived here. My father and three brothers are here. One brother lives in Bihar and has his voter ID there. Apart from him, our Aadhaar cards, addresses and everything are from Jharkhand.”

Mohammad Hasmuddin, around 60, a daily wager, said he spent his childhood in Maheshtikri, where his family owns land and has a khatian. His name was in the 2003 electoral roll too, and he had voted earlier in Godda, he said.

“My father, grandfather and great-grandfather have all lived in this house. We have not even changed our house,” Hasmuddin said, adding that his son who works in Delhi also returns to the village to vote.

Mohammad Hasmuddin, around 60, a daily wager, said he spent his childhood in Maheshtikri, where his family owns land and has a khatian (land proof of being a Jharkhandi).

‘Part of BJP responsibility’

On August 27, the BJP’s Jharkhand SIR convenor, Rakesh Prasad, submitted a memorandum to the Additional CEO, complaining about “discrepancies” in the SIR process in the state, particularly in Sahibganj and Godda districts.

In the case of Godda, the BJP accused BLOs of two booths of refusing to accept Form 7 applications submitted by its BLAs, and asked how BLO Bano, of Booth No. 9, Maheshtikri, had made public the details of its BLA. This had resulted in pressure and threats against the BLA, the BJP claimed.

Asked about BLO complaints regarding Form 7s submitted by BJP BLAs, former BJP Godda MLA Amit Kumar Mandal said this is part of their responsibility and they have been trained in this, including in the use of Form 6 (for new voters) and 8 (to record shifting or correction of entries).

“If someone’s name is appearing at two places, the BLA can raise an objection for deletion,” said Amit Mandal.

On the allegation that Form 7 documents are being distributed in bulk, with one BLA submitting up to 75, Mandal said there is no prescribed limit on the number of applications a BLA can submit, and that it is the responsibility of the election authorities to verify the objections.

Mandal also said that a BLO must “maintain confidentiality” about the person against whom objections have been filed, as well as of the BLA concerned. “If the BLO has disclosed such information, it can amount to a violation of the Representation of the People Act.”

In the 2024 Assembly elections in Jharkhand, Mandal lost from Godda to Sanjay Yadav of the RJD (a part of the JMM-Congress alliance) by more than 20,000 votes. In the 2020 elections, Mandal defeated Yadav, but by a narrow margin of around 4,500 votes.

BJP BLA Sanjeev Kumar Roshan told The Indian Express he was given around 25 Form 7s by ex-MLA Mandal and told to submit the same to the BLO. As per Roshan, Mandal told him: “If the BLO accepts the forms, it is fine; if not, bring them back.” Roshan said he got some forms back after these were rejected by Maheshtikri’s BLO.

Ganori Mandal, the BLA who submitted 75 Form 7 applications to Mukhtar, told The Indian Express he had barely any idea what the form was, and confirmed that, when he got to know something was wrong, he “burned” all the forms. “We are innocent and uneducated people. We got the forms from BJP cadres to submit to the BLO. I thought it was a form to add names,” he said.

BDO Marandi questioned the submission of bulk objections. “Any objection should be raised by the family concerned, or there should be solid evidence,” he said.

Marandi added that preliminary information suggested that some of the voters sought to be deleted are living at their registered addresses, and said the administration will conduct a field verification for every deletion request.

Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said that he had spoken to the Godda Assistant ERO and Deputy Commissioner, and there was no illegality. Objections had been filed through Form 7, he said, and these “can be submitted in bulk as well”.

The CEO added that if a BLA believes a voter is registered in multiple states, they can file an objection. “There is nothing wrong in filing objections.”

He also said that the BLOs should not be rejecting forms: “First, you have to inform the AERO. They will decide what needs to be done. After that, you give your recommendation in the observation report.”

The JMM’s local block president, Sultan Ahmed, called the forms part of a “conspiracy by the BJP to remove Muslim voters”.

Congress general secretary Surya Kant Shukla said the party was keeping a close watch on the SIR in Jharkhand, to monitor any attempts to delete names through Form 7. “We condemn any attempt at targeted deletions.”