Bhubaneswar: Chief electoral officer (CEO) RS Gopalan on Monday sought to allay concerns over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that no genuine voter would be removed from the rolls in Odisha. Speaking to TOI, Gopalan said his office had received fewer than 60,000 Form-7 applications, which are used to seek deletion of names from electoral rolls or object to proposed inclusions, during the claims and objections period that ended on Aug 19. He said a majority of these applications were rejected and no fresh Form-7 submissions were received after the deadline.The CEO’s clarification came after BJD’s minority cell alleged that Muslim voters were being selectively targeted for deletion through the alleged misuse of Form-7 applications during the revision exercise. Citing complaints from Cuttack, Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts, BJD minority cell president Shaikh Nizamuddin said the matter had been raised with Gopalan. According to him, the CEO assured that no genuine voter would be deleted and that all prescribed safeguards would be followed before any action was taken.A similar assurance was given to a delegation of Muslims that met the CEO last week, said Odisha high court advocate Shaikh Asfaque Ali. The delegation, under the banner of Al-Hind Markaz-e-Sharia, a Cuttack-based organisation, had submitted a memorandum alleging deliberate misuse of Form-7 applications to remove Muslim voters from electoral rolls.Reacting to the allegations, BJP state media convenor Sujit Kumar Das accused opposition parties of attempting to create confusion over the revision process. He said all genuine voters would continue to remain on the rolls, as assured by the Election Commission.Former BJP minority morcha state president Sikandar Ali termed the allegations “false propaganda” and claimed they were aimed at misleading minority voters. He welcomed the CEO’s clarification on the issue.In its memorandum, Al-Hind Markaz-e-Sharia urged the CEO to prevent misuse of Form-7, conduct an impartial inquiry and take action against those allegedly trying to create social unrest. The organisation alleged that groups in minority-dominated areas of Cuttack and Kendrapara districts had systematically targeted Muslim voters by filing deletion requests.The organisation expressed concern that thousands of genuine Muslim voters could be excluded from electoral rolls in various constituencies because of wrongful or improper use of Form-7, adversely affecting their democratic and constitutional rights.Form-7 is an Election Commission document used to object to a proposed inclusion in an electoral roll or seek deletion of an existing entry.
