Fear of FIRs prompts BLAs, others to withdraw Form 7 voter deletion requests in Mumbai

The measures follow a first FIR in Dharavi and concerns that political agents have misused Form 7 during Maharashtra’s Special Intensive Revision.

A large number of Form 7 applications filed by Booth Level Agents (BLAs) and private complainants seeking the deletion of voters’ names have been withdrawn or rejected during scrutiny in Mumbai and adjoining constituencies as the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered action against those filing false objections during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A senior state election official said EROs were told that the onus of proving an ineligible elector has been registered rests with the objector filing Form 7. (ANI)

People familiar with the matter said instances of withdrawing Form 7 applications came after the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) told Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to place the burden of proof on complainants and initiate criminal action against false filings. The first FIR was registered in Dharavi three weeks ago.

Amit Sanap, electoral registration officer (ERO) for Bhiwandi East, said his office had rejected 80% of the 540 Form 7 applications received for the constituency. Political party BLAs filed 480 of them. Some of them could face criminal action for submitting false information.

“We received 540 applications seeking deletions through Form 7, of which over 450 have been rejected. We will initiate action once the formal orders are prepared. We found that the people against whom Form 7 applications were filed, alleging that they did not live at the given addresses, were actually residing there,” he said.

Sanap added that some applicants have also withdrawn their Form 7 complaints.

A senior state election official said EROs were told that the onus of proving an ineligible elector has been registered rests with the objector filing Form 7. “We have strictly instructed officials to verify the complaints first by summoning the complainant. We do not want a repeat of the deletion of voters’ names through Form 7, as witnessed in other states. However, we have allowed complainants to withdraw their applications if they wish to do so,” the official said. “Withdrawals have started taking place after the election machinery began initiating action and the first FIR was registered in Dharavi three weeks ago,” the official added.

With the current phase of the SIR scheduled to conclude this Friday, ECI has received over 2.3 million forms for additions, deletions, and corrections, including more than 95,000 Form 7 applications seeking voter deletions in the state.

Form 7 has been controversial in several states where the SIR was conducted earlier, over allegations that political party BLAs abused the facility to delete the names of people perceived as supporters of rival parties.

To prevent wrongful deletions, the ECI in October capped individual Form 7 applications at ten, citing voter inconvenience and staff overload from unsubstantiated bulk objections. Subsequently, Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer instructed Electoral Registration Officers last month to summon objectors and verify claims before acting.

Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh from Bhiwandi East noted that his predominantly Muslim constituency’s electoral roll dropped from 376,000 electors before the Special Intensive Revision to 1.84 lakh in the draft list, with 23,000 names deleted for duplication or death and 42,430 flagged for discrepancies or unmapped 2002 records. Shaikh alleged Bharatiya Janata Party agents exploited a November 2025 rule permitting Booth Level Agents to file constituency-wide objections to suppress minority turnout, withdrawing false complaints only when facing police action.

Congress agent Avantika Lekurwale from Kamathi claimed bulk deletions occur before general elections wherever opposition agents lack vigilance. Rejecting these allegations, BJP’s Atul Deulgaonkar maintained that opposition voters are not targeted, asserting that anyone with credible information may file Form 7 and authorised government officers will determine the validity.