FIR Registered Against BJP Agent Over Form-7 Voter Deletions in Ballari

An FIR has been registered at the Brucepet police station in Ballari against T. Srinivas Mothkur, a local BJP leader and Booth Level Agent (BLA), following allegations of the misuse of Form-7 applications to seek the deletion of 7,561 voters from the electoral roll. The case, registered on October 1, is the sixth such FIR in Karnataka related to the alleged manipulation of voter lists during the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Brucepet police registered an FIR on October 1 under Section 353 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, against Ballari City Corporation Opposition Leader and BJP BLA-1 T. Srinivas Mothkur for seeking the deletion of 7,561 electors.

T. Srinivas Mothkur stated that he did not personally seek deletions but merely submitted field data gathered by BLA-2 to election officials for formal verification. More than 23,700 Form-7 applications were received in Karnataka after the claims and objections period.

Allegations of Misuse

The FIR was initiated after a complaint by Goutham S., a Congress BLA, who alleged that Mothkur had submitted bulk Form-7 applications claiming that thousands of electors were either absent or had permanently shifted. According to the complaint, these claims were not supported by documentation. When election authorities initially refused to accept the bulk applications, Mothkur reportedly made repeated attempts to submit them, leading to the current legal action. The FIR books the accused under Section 353 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, for statements conducing to public mischief.

Response and Investigation

Mothkur has denied the allegations, stating that as BLA-1, he had merely requested the BLA-2 to identify voters who had shifted or were absent and provided the resulting list to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for verification. He maintained that he did not personally seek the deletion of names or claim the information was definitively correct, but rather provided the data for official scrutiny. Meanwhile, election authorities have clarified that BLAs are permitted to submit applications in bulk, but must adhere to specific verification protocols, including personal cross-verification for large batches. The police are currently investigating the authenticity of the applications and the signatures involved. This incident is part of a broader political controversy in Karnataka, with similar FIRs registered in Belagavi, Bidar, and Mysuru, involving allegations that BJP functionaries targeted minority voters for removal from the electoral rolls.