Vakeel Ahmed Munshi has run a mobile shop at the same location near Sangamesh theatre in Bhalki for 37 years. He has been a registered voter since 2002. Yet last week, he discovered that Form 7 had been filed against his name, claiming he no longer lived at his address.Munshi is not alone. Hundreds of Muslim residents in Bhalki constituency have found similar objections filed against their inclusion in the voter rolls.
An investigation into Form 10 statements, which are consolidated daily summaries of Form 7 applications uploaded on the Election Commission of India’s website, reveals a clear pattern. A total of 525 additional Form 7 objections were filed on Sep. 24 in Bhalki alone. Twenty people filed all but two of these 525 applications. The overwhelming majority of names targeted for deletion were those of Muslim voters.
This came on top of earlier reports that objections had been raised against approximately 3,909 people, mostly Muslim, across Bhalki and the neighbouring Babaleshwar constituency.
In booth number 111, where Munshi votes, 56 Form 7 objections were filed between Sep. 22 and 24. A single individual named Pandu Ranga filed 40 of these on Sep. 24 alone.
MurtujaManiyar also had his name flagged for deletion on grounds that he had permanently shifted. His son Mufeetsaid, “We have lived in the same location for three generations, we haven’t even moved within the area.”