Somnath: The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Gujarat’s Somnath Assembly constituency has triggered concern after 15,663 Form 7 applications seeking voter deletion were filed in January. Reports indicate that most of the applications targeted Muslim voters.
Election Commission data shows that Somnath has around 2.6 lakh registered voters. In the 2022 Assembly election, the seat saw a narrow margin of 922 votes between BJP candidate Mansingh Parmar and Congress candidate Vimalbhai Chudasma. Local Congress workers estimate that Muslims account for at least 50,000 voters in the constituency.
Of the 15,663 deletion forms, 269 individuals filed the bulk of the applications. Each of them reportedly submitted more than 50 forms. Guidelines allow a person to file multiple objections. However, if more than five objections come from one individual, electoral officers must conduct scrutiny. Booth level agents are limited to filing 10 Form 7 applications per day.
Documents show that voter details appeared printed in English, while objector details were handwritten. In some cases, objectors denied filing the applications and submitted affidavits claiming misuse of their names, EPIC numbers, and phone numbers.
Some applications cited absence or permanent shifting as grounds for deletion. Others listed not an Indian citizen. Such objections require physical verification by the Electoral Registration Officer and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers. District officials deployed six AEROs for verification and stated that no voter would face arbitrary removal.
Statewide, the draft roll released in December recorded deletion of 73.73 lakh names. Authorities will publish the final roll on February 17.
