A major case of electoral malpractice and irregularities in voter lists has come to light in the state of Uttar Pradesh. An attempt was made to remove voters names by submitting twenty-six Form-7 applications carrying forged signatures under the name of Nand Lal. The Election Commission of India has taken serious cognizance of this matter, while irregularities regarding voter lists have surfaced in multiple locations across Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh has taken official cognizance of the complaints filed by the Samajwadi Party and stated that the Form-7 applications submitted for deleting names from the existing voter list have not been accepted. These forms bore the signatures of twenty-six individuals named Nand Lal, while Plus, a formal case has been registered against the concerned Booth Level Officer in this matter.
Details of Samajwadi Party Allegations and Inquiry Process
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh officially informed through a tweet that serious allegations were leveled by the Samajwadi Party on October fifteenth. The party alleged that a deliberate conspiracy was hatched to delete voters names by getting Form-7 filled with forged signatures of Nand Lal. Information regarding these allegations was obtained from the District Election Officer of Sultanpur. A thorough inquiry into the matter was conducted by the Electoral Registration Officer of the one hundred eighty-ninth Sadar Assembly Constituency. The investigation revealed the manner in which rules were flouted to attempt manipulation in the electoral process, prompting the election authority to issue directives for swift action.
Form-7 Submitted Without Identification and BLO Negligence
The investigation by the Election Commission revealed that the BLO accepted Form-7 without verifying the identity of the applicant. For such gross negligence in the election process, the concerned BLO has been removed immediately, and the relevant department has been instructed to take strict action against them. In this case, an FIR was registered on October twenty-fourth at the Gosaiganj police station by the concerned BLO supervisor under sections three hundred thirty-six sub-section three, three hundred forty sub-section two, and three hundred eighteen sub-section four of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. According to reports, Form-7 applications bearing the signatures of a person named Nand Lal were submitted to the Booth Level Officer in the Sadar assembly constituency of Sultanpur.
Incomplete Forms and Strict Stance of Election Commission
The Form-7 applications submitted in the Sadar assembly constituency of Sultanpur were found to be completely incomplete as they lacked essential information such as the applicant name, voter ID number, and mobile number. Due to this reason, the BLO didn't take any further administrative action on these forms, while however, accepting such incomplete forms without proper verification of the applicant identity was considered grave negligence in discharging election-related responsibilities. The Election Commission has made it clear that such negligence won't be tolerated under any circumstances and such incidents will be dealt with severely in the future.
Chief Electoral Officer Statement Regarding Duplicate Voters
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa stated in this regard that several voters and their relatives, including fathers, husbands, wives, or legal guardians, may have identical names within the same assembly constituency or across different assembly constituencies. An entry can't be considered a duplicate entry merely on the basis of having a similar name. The Election Commission of India is continuously and transparently working to identify genuine duplicate entries, conduct proper verification, and remove them by strictly following the prescribed legal procedures to ensure that no legitimate voter is wrongfully excluded.