Ranchi, Sept 4 : The INDIA bloc in Jharkhand has alleged that BJP workers and booth-level agents were pressuring booth-level officers (BLOs) in several districts to seek deletion of names of particular voters from electoral rolls through Form-7.
A delegation of the alliance met Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar on Thursday and submitted a memorandum seeking action against those allegedly involved in the exercise.
JMM general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey said reports had emerged from districts including Garhwa, Godda and Chatra that BJP workers and their booth-level agents were allegedly forcing BLOs to delete names from the electoral rolls.
The delegation demanded that the CEO identify those involved and initiate appropriate action, Pandey told reporters after the meeting.
Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh and other Congress leaders, along with representatives of the RJD and CPI (ML) Liberation, were part of the delegation.
Form-7 is used for seeking deletion of names from existing electoral rolls.Kumar, however, said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was being conducted through a transparent process and asserted that names of eligible voters could not be deleted.
He said claims and objections were currently being invited as part of the revision process. Booth-level agents (BLAs) are permitted to submit objections in bulk, with a maximum of 10 forms a day to BLOs, he added.
“The SIR process is transparent. Eligible voters’ names cannot be deleted,” Kumar said, adding that details related to Form-6 and Form-7, including the number of forms received and names of voters, could be checked through the official website.
The CEO also dismissed the possibility of eligible voters being removed from the rolls secretly on the basis of misinformation, terming such a notion ‘ completely incorrect’ .
The allegations made by the INDIA bloc could not be independently verified.
