BJD Urges Booth-Level Verification of Form-7 Applications in Odisha

The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday urged the Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to ensure transparent and impartial verification of electoral records, alleging that Form-7 was being misused to target genuine minority voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Form-7 is used to file objections against the proposed inclusion or deletion of names from an existing electoral roll. In a memorandum submitted to the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, the BJD State Minority Cell said it had received complaints from several parts of Odisha alleging that Form-7 applications were being filed against genuine electors, particularly Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and other eligible citizens.

The party called for immediate and strict action against any attempt to misuse the process to remove eligible voters from electoral rolls. It stressed that no genuine elector should be deleted during the revision exercise.

The BJD noted that the claims and objections period under SIR-2026 ended on August 19. It said any deletion proposal being processed after the deadline must strictly adhere to the prescribed legal procedure.

According to the party, electors must be served notice and given an opportunity to present their case before their names are removed from the electoral roll. It also urged election authorities to exercise greater caution in constituencies and booths with substantial minority populations.

The BJD sought special scrutiny of Form-7 applications and deletion proposals submitted or processed after August 19. It further demanded constituency-wise and booth-wise verification of such applications in areas with significant minority populations.

The party said that wherever a genuine elector is found to have been wrongly deleted, immediate corrective action should be taken to restore the voter’s name.