Hyderabad, 05 October (H.S.): Election officials in Telangana have rejected Form-7 applications submitted in Goshamahal and Musheerabad Assembly constituencies, stating that the applications did not meet the requirements for consideration.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner and District Election Officer R V Karnan said the applications were not received in bulk. In Goshamahal, the forms submitted were not signed by the applicants and were therefore considered ineligible.

In Musheerabad, one Balachander had submitted Form-7 applications seeking deletion of the names of 30 electors. Karnan said verification found that the 30 persons were residing at the premises concerned.

The issue has led to allegations between the Congress, AIMIM and BJP over the submission of Form-7 applications during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that BJP activists were attempting to remove names of Muslim voters, while the Telangana Congress complained to Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy regarding the applications submitted by Balachander.

The BJP rejected the allegations. State BJP president N Ramchander Rao said no BJP Booth Level Agents had submitted such Form-7 applications and maintained that the SIR process was being conducted by the state government machinery.

Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy had earlier said that around 29,000 Form-7 applications had been received during the SIR, against 4.43 lakh Form-6 applications. He said Form-7 applications have to be submitted by individuals and any bulk submission allegedly made on behalf of a political party would have to be properly verified.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar