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Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi on Monday alleged that the deletion of names from electoral rolls was against the principles of the Constitution and the country's electoral process, and said that the Congress would continue its protest over the issue.
Priyanka Gandhi said that the deletions were a matter of serious concern and alleged that the public had now realised that elections were being manipulated. "It's very clear that these deletions that have taken place are against everything our Constitution and our electoral process stand for. It's extremely clear. We are protesting against that. The public has now realised that the elections are being manipulated, and we will continue our protest," She said. Gandhis remarks come amid the recent observation made by the Supreme Court over the change in Form 6, and a wider political dispute in Karnataka over the use of Form-7 for voter deletions during the ongoing SIR exercise. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has alleged attempts to use Form-7 applications to seek deletion of eligible voters, while the BJP has rejected the allegations and maintained that submitting Form-7 applications is a legitimate part of the electoral-roll process. The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has directed election officials to initiate legal action against those who knowingly submit false claims or objections in electoral-roll applications, including Form-7. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 being used for enrolment of new voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the court would examine the record to ascertain who had introduced the changes after the Election Commission claimed last week that the new declaration attached to the online Form 6 had been approved by the apex court. Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us. Lets be clear. When the record is produced, we would like to see who has modified it, the CJI observed. The clarification came while hearing a plea filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi seeking prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other officials over alleged unilateral decisions concerning the SIR exercise. (ANI)
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