New Delhi, Jan 29 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday flagged alleged discrepancies in electoral roll revision created by “misuse of Form-7” applications to delete voters’ names and sought ECI’s immediate intervention to prevent other parties from gaining “unfair electoral advantage” through this route.

Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, in a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and two other ECs, said, “Initiate immediate corrective measures by instituting strict vigilance and real-time supervision over the voter deletion process, including monitoring of Form-7 applications, so as to prevent arbitrary, mass or mala fide deletions of eligible electors from the electoral rolls.”

Alleging mass-scale targeting and disenfranchisement of eligible voters across the 12 states undergoing special intensive revision exercise of electoral roll, Venugopal requested the ECI for immediate identification of members and workers of “ruling regime and other unknown individuals” actively misusing Form 7 applications to delete eligible voters across the states.

The Congress leader also urged the ECI to release in the public domain the complete, readily accessible and disaggregated data relating to Form-7 applications for all 12 States undergoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

He said the data must include the total number of Form-7 filed, accepted, rejected and pending, along with constituency-wise and ground-wise break-up for the relevant revision period, in the interest of transparency and electoral integrity.

“We urge the Hon’ble Commission to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves and to take all necessary steps to ensure that the integrity of the upcoming state elections is maintained,” wrote Venugopal in the letter written on the letterhead of All India Congress Committee.

The Congress General Secretary also appealed to the ECI to utilise powers under Article 324 of the Constitution and initiate an investigation into instances of “misuse of Form-7 applications and the voter deletion mechanism”.

He said upon identification of deliberate false declarations or abuse of process, the ECI should initiate appropriate legal action in accordance with the law, including registration of FIRs wherever warranted.

“Frame, notify and enforce clear, uniform and stringent guidelines regulating the issuance, filing, scrutiny and adjudication of Form-7 applications, including safeguards against misuse and consequently enforce mandatory verification protocols, and accountability mechanisms for officers involved in the process,” wrote Venugopal.

–IANS

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