Hundreds of Odisha Voters Nearly Dropped From Electoral Rolls After BLOs Share Details for ‘Verification’

Odisha SIR row: BLO credentials allegedly used to file thousands of voter deletion forms

A voter-roll controversy has emerged in Odisha’s Dhamnagar Assembly constituency after several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) alleged that their credentials and one-time passwords were used without their knowledge to submit Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters’ names during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The allegations have led to the suspension of Santosh Kumar Nayak, Executive Officer of the Dhamnagar Notified Area Council and the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) for the SIR exercise. The Election Commission approved disciplinary action against Nayak after a preliminary inquiry found that the applications appeared to have been processed without authorisation.

The disputed Form 7 applications were subsequently withdrawn, and most of the voters named in them appeared in Odisha’s final electoral roll published on September 21.

BLO discovers 227 deletion applications under her credentials

Nirupama Tripathy, a BLO for Booth No. 153 in Dhamnagar, said she was shocked to find at least 227 Form 7 applications uploaded using her credentials.

Tripathy said she had shared OTPs with the AERO and his staff on multiple occasions, believing they were needed for verification.

“I shared OTPs with the AERO and his staff at least three times. I thought it’s for verification purposes,” she told The Indian Express.

She said she realised the OTPs had allegedly been used to process voter-deletion applications only after checking the system. She then contacted other BLOs and found that several had encountered similar issues.

Ten BLOs filed a police complaint on September 4 and approached the Bhadrak District Collector. The BJD subsequently raised the matter with Odisha Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan.

More than 90% of names reportedly Muslim

According to officials, more than 90% of the voters named in the disputed applications were Muslim.

The issue drew further attention because Dhamnagar had more than 3,000 Form 7 applications, significantly higher than the average across Odisha. A total of 20,707 voters were deleted through Form 7 applications across the state’s 147 Assembly constituencies — an average of around 141 per seat.

The BLOs said most of the voters whose names were targeted had already been cleared during the enumeration process and were also mapped to the 2002 SIR rolls.

Tripathy said all but three or four of the 227 voters listed under her credentials were Muslim and described them as valid voters.

AERO faces inquiry

Following a memorandum from the BJD, the CEO’s office sought a report from the Additional Sub-Collector of Bhadrak, who is the Electoral Registration Officer for Dhamnagar.

A source said the internal verification found prima facie evidence that the forms had been processed in an unauthorised manner.

On September 21, the CEO’s office informed the Bhadrak District Collector that the Election Commission had approved the suspension and disciplinary proceedings against Nayak over allegations involving the unauthorised use of BLO credentials and OTPs and the uploading of Form 7 applications.

The Odisha Housing and Urban Development Department later issued Nayak’s suspension order.

The CEO’s office has also directed the district administration to submit a detailed draft charge against the AERO and ordered a full inquiry into his role.

Gopalan declined to comment.

BLOs allege pressure over verification

In their police complaint, the BLOs alleged that OTPs were obtained from them on the pretext of verification and subsequently used to submit Form 7 applications.

They also alleged that the AERO pressured them through supervisors to complete field verification early and threatened show-cause notices if they did not comply.

Sk Ramjan Alli, a BLO for Booth No. 154, said 130 Form 7 applications had been filed using his credentials. He said more than 90% of the voters concerned had been found genuine during enumeration and were also present in the 2002 SIR records.

Another BLO, Binjulata Majhi, said 190 applications were filed under her name.

Tripathy said the BLOs went to the police because they wanted to establish that they had no role in the alleged deletions.

“We approached police as we wanted to convey that we had no role in deleting any names. We would have been targeted otherwise by those who faced deletion,” she said.

Dhamnagar saw sharp fall in voter numbers

Dhamnagar had about 2.49 lakh voters when the SIR began, including around 20,000 Muslim voters. During the enumeration phase, 17,956 voters — about 7.19% of the electorate — were deleted.

The final roll published on September 21 contained around 2.31 lakh voters.

The constituency has been closely contested in recent elections. The BJP won Dhamnagar in 2019 and 2024, defeating the BJD by margins of more than 4,000 and 8,000 votes respectively.

The BJD, which was runner-up in both elections, has called for a wider probe into the disputed Form 7 applications.

“If the allegations are proved to be true, it raises a serious question on the credibility of the electoral process,” BJD general secretary Bijay Nayak said, calling for a review of Form 7-based deletions across Odisha.

Overall, Odisha’s electorate fell from 3.33 crore before the SIR exercise to 3.16 crore in the final electoral roll.