Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has warned election officials against deleting voters’ names from electoral rolls on the basis of anonymous or unauthenticated objections. He said such action would lead to a response on the streets of Hyderabad that, in his words, had not been seen even at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad, the AIMIM chief called on the Election Commission of India, the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer and District Electoral Officers to verify objections before removing any elector’s name from the rolls.
Owaisi alleged that people affiliated with the BJP and the Sangh Parivar were trying to have Muslim voters’ names deleted by submitting printed Form-7 applications. Form 7 is used to seek the deletion of a name from an electoral roll.
He said he had personally seen printed applications seeking the removal of Muslim voters’ names. Owaisi claimed the forms did not include details of the people objecting to those voters’ names remaining on the electoral list.
Owaisi’s warning was directed at election authorities responsible for handling voter-roll objections. He said names should not be deleted on the basis of objections that are anonymous and unauthenticated.
