A delegation of INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday met Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar and submitted a memorandum alleging that BJP workers and booth-level agents were pressuring booth-level officers (BLOs) in several districts to delete the names of certain voters from electoral rolls through Form-7.
The delegation alleged that such instances had been reported from districts including Garhwa, Godda and Chatra. It urged the Chief Electoral Officer to identify those involved and initiate action against them.
“Reports from several districts, including Garhwa, Godda and Chatra, are coming that BJP workers and their booth-level agents (BLAs) are forcing BLOs to delete names of particular voters from the electoral rolls,” JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey told reporters after the meeting.
Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, along with representatives of the RJD and CPI (ML) Liberation, was part of the delegation.
Form-7 is used to seek deletion of a name from the electoral roll. The INDIA bloc leaders raised their concerns in the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in the state.
Kumar, however, said the revision process was transparent and that the name of an eligible voter could not be deleted. He said claims and objections were currently being invited as part of the process.
Booth-level agents can submit objections in bulk, with a limit of up to 10 forms a day to BLOs, the CEO said.
“The SIR process is transparent. Eligible voters' names cannot be deleted. The details of Form-6 or Form-7, such as the number of forms received and names of voters, among others, can be checked through the website,” Kumar said.
He also rejected concerns that voters' names could be removed secretly on the basis of misinformation, calling such a notion “completely incorrect”.
(With inputs from PTI)