SIR: BLOs are forced to accept form 7 without applicants signature

After the Musheerabad incident regarding mass deletion applications became public, pre-printed applications in Form 7 are still being submitted to Booth Level Officers (BLOs), but without the signatures of the applicants, during the claims and objections phase of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

In the successive cases that emerged after Musheerabad, in Bahadurpura and Goshamahahal, all the pre-printed application forms were without signature.

In a fresh case, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Goshamahahal constituency has spoken out against mass submission of Form 7 and warned political parties to act if BLOs are forced to accept such forms.

ERO Uma Prakash posted a message in a WhatsApp group created to communicate with political parties and said that a particular BLA named Sai Kiran brought a total of 180 applications to the BLO and made her take them. It mentioned that it was against the guidelines of the Election Commission of India and asked the parties to submit the list to the ERO for proper verification. She warned that criminal cases would be initiated if the coercive tactics continued.

A screenshot of the message was widely shared on social media, revealing a concerted effort still underway to wipe out voters en masse. In all cases, the BLAs are said to represent the Bharatiya Janata Party, while all the voters whose names were to be deleted were Muslims, revealing a clear angle of political division.

When pressed for her version, Ms. Prakash said that BLAs are bringing forms without signature, without any documentary proof and forcing BLOs to accept them.

“At the instance, the BLO called me and I told the agent that such forms will not be accepted. There is a whole procedure behind the deletion. Just bringing unsigned forms will not help,” she said, adding that she has approved only three deletions in the constituency so far after proper verification.

“The BLO goes to the spot, conducts a panchanama and confirms the death or transfer. If it is a death, it asks the family to produce the death certificate or, if not available, a signed statement. Without that, we don’t approve even a single deletion. That’s why the process is very slow,” Ms. Prakash said.

The concerned BLA, when called upon to present his version, denied that he had ever attempted to send Forms 7 in bulk.

The conspiracy of mass deletion was first exposed in Musheerabad when the BJP’s BLA brought 31 application forms (Form-7s) seeking deletion of voters from one family. It turned out to be a false claim when the BLO went for verification, prompting a case against the agent by the election authorities. After the incident came to light, several such cases came to light, questioning the sanctity of the entire process.

Published – 06 Oct 2026 20:33 IST