A DELEGATION of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) visited Enkoor village in Bhalki taluk of Bidar district on October 1, 2026, and conducted a detailed study of the developments surrounding the submission of Form 7 objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The visit brought several facts to light.

The delegation comprised Comrade K. Neela, State Secretariat member of the CPI(M), and Comrades Shashikant Dange, Prabhu Santoshkar and Gausoddin, all members of the Bidar District Organising Committee of the party.

ENKOOR: A VILLAGE KNOWN FOR COMMUNAL HARMONY

Enkoor village has around 2,300 voters, including approximately 725 Muslim voters. The village has historically been known for communal harmony. Whether it is Muharram or festivals celebrated by other communities, people have traditionally observed them together in an atmosphere of mutual harmony. All the Muslim residents of the village speak Kannada fluently. The people of Enkoor proudly state that not a single untoward incident occurred in the village even during the period of the Razakar movement. During the visit, people from almost all communities interacted with the delegation and shared their views.

According to the delegation, applications seeking deletion of names were submitted specifically against voters belonging to the Muslim community. Three individuals had submitted such applications. In total, 266 Form 7 objections were filed in the village. There are two polling booths in Enkoor  Booth Nos. 251 and 252. Form 7 objections were submitted to the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of both booths, with demands that they be uploaded on September 22, 2026.

The delegation said that, allegedly due to pressure, 65 applications from Booth No. 252 and two applications from Booth No. 251 were uploaded. The delegation was reportedly informed that there was pressure from BJP leaders to upload the remaining 198 applications as well. In the case of Booth No. 251, only two applications could be uploaded because a member of the BLO's family was reportedly unwell.

COMPLAINANTS LATER SEEK WITHDRAWAL OF APPLICATIONS

As soon as news emerged about the alleged misuse of Form 7, the three complainants Naganath, Gurayya and Gausoddin submitted a letter to the Taluk Election Officer on September 24, stating that they wanted to withdraw their complaints. They reportedly stated that they did not understand Form 7 properly, had been confused about the process and did not possess any supporting documents. According to the CPI(M), villagers confronted the complainants over the issue. The party further alleged that, while this entire episode was unfolding, the Taluk Election Officer facilitated an internal settlement and allowed the matter to be closed.

The Chief Minister of Karnataka staged a five-hour protest in front of the Election Commission office on October 1, after which an FIR was registered against 32 complainants in Bhalki taluk.

The CPI(M) delegation alleged that there are grounds for suspecting that the Form 7 declarations were filled out and handed over to the complainants from the BJP office, with the complainants then being instructed to submit them to the BLOs. According to the party, the complainants did not appear to have taken note of the self-declaration contained in Form 7.

The alleged misuse of Form 7, along with the filing of objections selectively targeting members of the Muslim community without providing the required supporting documents, became a major issue. As demands for action against those who had submitted allegedly false complaints intensified, the complainants reportedly submitted written statements seeking withdrawal of their applications. The delegation said they appeared to have become apprehensive about facing legal consequences.

The CPI(M) alleged that this raises serious questions about whether there was a pre-planned effort to determine at the grassroots level whose votes should be deleted and who should be made to file objections.

ALLEGATIONS OF A PRE-PLANNED EXERCISE

The delegation further alleged that the seriousness of the self-declaration contained in Form 7 was either not explained to the complainants or was deliberately ignored, and that there was a belief among those involved that they could escape legal consequences.

According to the CPI(M), the Muslim voters whose names were mentioned in the Form 7 applications in Enkoor possess all the necessary documents establishing their eligibility. Despite this, their names were included in the objections.

The party alleged that the possibility of links within the administrative machinery being used to eventually get these names deleted cannot be ruled out. Overall, the delegation said the developments indicate an apparent determination to target and delete the names of Muslim voters.

FORM 7 APPLICATIONS IN OTHER LOCATIONS

The CPI(M) said that Enkoor is not the only village where such an exercise has allegedly taken place. In Nittur B village of the same Bhalki taluk, there are four polling booths, and Form 7 objections have reportedly been filed seeking deletion of the names of more than 400 voters. Form 7 objections have also been submitted in Khatak Chincholi, Ucha, Hupala, Lakhan Gaon, Metimelkunda, Navadgi, Davargaon and five polling booths in Bhalki town. According to the figures cited by the CPI(M), a total of 3,079 Form 7 applications have been submitted in the Bhalki Assembly constituency.

Bhalki taluk in Bidar district has recorded the highest number of Form 7 objections in Karnataka, with 3,079 applications. Babaleshwar has recorded the second-highest number, with around 1,647 Form 7 applications.

Thus, out of the 224 Assembly constituencies, Bhalki and Babaleshwar together account for nearly one-sixth of the objections filed in the State. The two constituencies together have recorded 4,726 objections, accounting for 16.1 per cent of the total number of objections in Karnataka, according to the figures cited by the party.

The CPI(M) further said that Bhalki and Babaleshwar are the only two constituencies in Karnataka where applications seeking deletion of names have exceeded applications submitted for the enrolment of new voters.

The other constituencies with comparatively high numbers of Form 7 applications include Melukote with 648, Shikaripura with 617, Hanur with 545, Ramanagara with 503, Shivamogga with 485, Ballari City with 423, Hadagali with 417 and Madikeri with 406.

SUDDEN SURGE IN OBJECTIONS BEFORE THE DEADLINE

The CPI(M) pointed out that the submission of objections was very slow during August and most of September. In Bhalki, only seven Form 7 objections had reportedly been filed up to September 21. However, by September 22 and 23, there was a sharp increase, with the number of objections rising rapidly.

September 23 was reportedly the single day on which the highest number of applications were submitted, with 4,781 applications filed.

The party said that the manner in which such a large number of applications were submitted at the last moment raises serious doubts and concerns. It argued that this does not appear to be a normal or spontaneous process and therefore requires serious scrutiny. Apart from submitting objections on the final day, there was intense pressure to upload the applications, and that this pressure allegedly came from BJP leaders.

Only 14 individuals submitted nearly one-tenth of the total objections filed across the State. The CPI(M) said this provides grounds to suspect that the exercise was pre-planned.

ALLEGED BJP LINK TO FORM 7 DISTRIBUTION

The CPI(M) further claimed that a phone conversation in which BJP workers in Madikeri allegedly admitted that Form 7 applications had been supplied from the BJP office had been released on social media by a media organisation. This conversation provides evidence supporting its allegation that the exercise was pre-planned.

What Does the CPI(M) Allege Is the BJP's Objective?

According to the CPI(M), the objective behind the submission of Form 7 is not merely to deprive voters of their right to vote.

The party alleged that by seeking the deletion of Muslim voters from electoral rolls, an attempt is being made to further consolidate communal sentiments among sections of people who have already been mobilised along religious lines, thereby intensifying communal polarisation.

The CPI(M) also questioned why Bhalki has allegedly been targeted. According to the party, there is a strategy to expand the communal political base from the Maharashtra border into the Kalyana Karnataka region. Creating divisions in villages known for communal harmony could be part of an attempt to create a favourable electoral environment.

Bidar district has a history of Sufi and saint traditions. The culture associated with Dastarkhwan and the region's syncretic traditions is deeply rooted in its social fabric. The CPI(M) alleged that the RSS is seeking to disrupt this tradition and has therefore targeted Bidar district.

The party further alleged that the RSS has already begun making inroads towards Basavakalyan through Hindu conventions centred around the Basavadi Sharanas, and that an attempt is now being made to provoke communal tensions in Bhalki by interfering with voters' electoral rights. The RSS has been attempting to introduce communal ideas through various means and create communal polarisation. Efforts are now being made to be more aggressive by attempting to delete or facilitate the deletion of Muslim voters from the electoral rolls in villages.

The CPI(M) also alleged that the JD(S), by remaining silent instead of questioning the alleged BJP strategy, has demonstrated that it too is a participant in the process.

PEOPLE'S RESPONSE: “WE LIVE TOGETHER”

However, the CPI(M) said that the response of ordinary people during its visits to Enkoor and other villages was very different from what the RSS allegedly expected.

“We live together. We are all people of the same village. How can we become separate?” villagers reportedly told the delegation, before holding each other's hands and raising them together.

The delegation also visited a site where people were working under the rural employment guarantee programme. People from different communities were found working together on desilting a canal. They told the delegation about their economic difficulties and demanded 200 days of employment, higher wages and greater livelihood support during periods of drought. The delegation said that non-Muslim villagers themselves strongly criticised those who had filed complaints seeking deletion of Muslim voters' names.

“Let us see how they will delete them,” some villagers reportedly challenged.

CPI(M)'S DEMANDS

The delegation said it explained the following demands to the people, who expressed their support for them:

1. Legal action should be taken against those who submitted Form 7 objections without supporting documents. They should be arrested. The Election Commission should also identify those who allegedly planned the exercise, distributed Form 7 applications and instructed people to file objections, and criminal cases should be registered against them and they should be arrested.

2. The SIR process should be scrapped immediately.

3. The legal protection allegedly being provided to Gyanesh Kumar should be withdrawn, and he should be removed from his position. The CPI(M) has demanded that a case of sedition be registered against him and that he be sent to jail.

4. All voters whose names have been deleted should be restored to the electoral rolls.