Why in the News
The Supreme Court agreed to consider a plea alleging misuse of Form 7 during Uttar Pradesh’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. In Karnataka, nearly half of Bengaluru’s voters are flagged for possible deletion ahead of the draft roll. The draft roll is due on 17 August 2026.
What is the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls?
- Definition: the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a house to house exercise by the Election Commission to update and verify electoral rolls.
- Enumeration: electors are mapped and verified, and doubtful entries are flagged for review.
- Draft stage: a draft roll is published, followed by a claims and objections phase before finalisation.
What is Form 7 and how is it alleged to be misused?
- Form 7: a statutory mechanism under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, for limited and bona fide objections to inclusion, or deletion on narrow grounds.
- Allegation: a Congress Member of Parliament cited documented evidence of bulk, fraudulent and targeted deletion attempts.
- Targeting: the plea says objections hit minority and marginalised electors, including those already verified during the revision.
- Mechanical filing: Booth Level Officers reportedly received pre filled Form 7 applications with identical grounds and no credible basis.
- Respondents: the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh are named respondents.
What is the ASDDO flag in Karnataka?
- Full form: Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate or Other.
- Scale: of Bengaluru’s 1.03 crore voters, 49.42 lakh are flagged under this category.
- State total: across Karnataka, 1.11 crore voters, one fifth of the 5.54 crore mapped, are flagged.
- Hotspots: ten Bengaluru constituencies show flagged deletions above 50 percent, led by Bommanahalli at 57.08 percent.
[2017] For election to the Lok Sabha, a nomination paper can be filed by
(a) Anyone residing in India.
(b) A resident of the constituency from which the election is to be contested.
(c) Any citizen of India whose name appears in the electoral roll of a constituency.
(d) Any citizen of India.