BLOs shared details for ‘verification’; hundreds of voters in Odisha nearly struck out of rolls

Why in the News

Booth Level Officer (BLO) logins meant to certify voter checks were used, without the BLOs’ knowledge, to file bulk deletion applications against voters they had verified. In Odisha’s Dhamnagar Assembly seat, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved the suspension of the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) accused of misusing BLOs’ one-time passwords (OTPs) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

How were BLO credentials turned against voters?

1. What Form 7 is: Form 7 is the application to object to, or seek deletion of, a name on the roll. BLOs process it on an app under their own login, confirmed by an OTP.
2. How the misuse worked: The AERO and his staff sought OTPs from BLOs on the pretext of verification. The OTPs were then used to process Form 7s removing genuine voters.
3. Spread across BLOs: Several BLOs in the Dhamnagar Notified Area Council (an urban local body) found such uploads. One found at least 227 in her name, another 130.
4. Pressure on BLOs: Their police complaint says the AERO pressed them through a supervisor and threatened a show-cause notice.
5. The takeaway: A check built on each BLO’s login became a way to strike voters off without any BLO deciding it.

Who was targeted, and why did it raise suspicion?

1. One community: Over 90% of the applications concerned Muslim voters. Dhamnagar, in northeast Odisha, is among the State’s few seats with a sizeable Muslim population.
2. Already verified voters: BLOs say almost all flagged voters had been cleared in the enumeration round and traced to the 2002 SIR roll.
3. Outlier volume: Dhamnagar alone produced over 3,000 Form 7s, against a statewide average of 141 Form 7-based deletions per seat.
4. Narrow political margins: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the seat twice by narrow margins over the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The BJD now seeks a thorough probe.

How did the election machinery respond?

1. Complaint and memorandum: 10 BLOs filed a police complaint on 4 September and approached the Bhadrak District Collector. The BJD then petitioned the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
2. Preliminary inquiry: The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Bhadrak’s Additional Sub-Collector, found prima facie, on a first look, that the forms were processed in an unauthorised manner.
3. Suspension: On 21 September, the ECI approved, via the CEO, suspension and disciplinary proceedings against the AERO, also the council’s Executive Officer. Odisha’s Housing and Urban Development Department issued the order.
4. Further action: The Collector must forward a full “draft charge” (the formal allegations), and a detailed inquiry has been ordered.
5. Names restored: The applications were withdrawn, and most targeted voters appear in the final roll released the same day.

Challenges

1. Shared credentials: OTPs handed to superiors mean a login no longer proves who decided.
2. Detection by chance: The misuse surfaced through a BLO checking her app, not a system alert.
3. Religious targeting: Deletions aimed at one community strike at Article 325, which bars exclusion from the roll on grounds of religion.
4. Cheap objections: Bulk Form 7s cost filers little, while flagged voters must prove eligibility again.

Way Forward

1. Bulk filing alerts: Flag logins processing Form 7s far above the seat average.
2. Non-transferable login: BLO approvals should use biometric or device-bound authentication in place of shareable OTPs.
3. Penal action: Prosecute guilty officials under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which punishes breach of official duty in roll work.
4. Protected reporting: Shield BLOs who report misuse from threats by superiors.

Conclusion

The SIR’s safeguards hold only if officials cannot borrow the credentials of those below them. Whether the inquiry ends in formal charges against the suspended officer is the next marker.

Key numbers

1. Odisha’s Form 7 deletions: 20,707 names across 147 Assembly seats.
2. Odisha’s electorate: 3.33 crore before the SIR, 3.16 crore in the final roll.
3. Dhamnagar’s electorate: 2.49 lakh at the start of the SIR, 2.31 lakh in the final roll.
4. Dhamnagar enumeration deletions: 17,956 voters; the seat had 20,000 Muslim voters at the start.
5. BJP’s winning margins: over 4,000 (2019) and 8,000-plus (2024).

Back2Basics: Electoral Registration Officer

1. Statutory hierarchy: Sections 13A to 13CC of the 1950 Act set up the roll machinery: a CEO per State, District Election Officers and EROs.
2. Role of the ERO: The ERO prepares and revises the electoral roll for an Assembly constituency.
3. Role of the AERO: AEROs assist the ERO and may perform the ERO’s functions, subject to the ERO’s control.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026, GS2, 10 marks] Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters?”