Karnataka Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, called for a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe and the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged misuse of Form-7 applications during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across Karnataka. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Reddy said the alleged irregularities were not confined to any single constituency and warranted a state-wide investigation.

What Reddy Alleged

The minister said the Karnataka CID should lead the inquiry and argued that a fresh SIT was necessary given the scale of the alleged misuse. Reddy went further, alleging that there was a conspiracy to remove names from electoral rolls — a charge that sharpened the political stakes of the controversy. Form-7 is the official form used to seek deletion of a voter's name from electoral rolls, and its alleged misuse has sparked a fierce dispute between the ruling Indian National Congress (Congress) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

Three FIRs Registered So Far

So far, three FIRs have been registered — at the Vyalikaval, Yeshwanthpur, and Jayanagar police stations — based on complaints filed by Congress leaders.

In the most recent case, an FIR was lodged at Yeshwanthpur Police Station on a complaint by Congress leader Anoop Iyengar against BJP Booth Level Agent (BLA) Deepak Singh. The complaint related to Form-7 applications submitted in Ward No. 76 of the Malleshwaram Assembly constituency, allegedly claiming voters were absent despite residing at the listed addresses.

At Jayanagar, an FIR was registered against BJP workers Yogesh and Ramakrishna following a complaint by KPCC Mahila Congress President and former Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy — who is also the daughter of Minister Ramalinga Reddy. That complaint alleged Form-7 applications had been filed seeking the deletion of 5,698 voters on the ground that they had permanently shifted out of the constituency.

BJP Pushes Back

Jayanagar BJP MLA C.K. Ramamurthy strongly criticised the registration of the FIRs, questioning their legal basis. He argued that grievances related to Form-7 applications should be directed to election authorities and the Election Commission of India (ECI), not the police.

Ramamurthy claimed that BJP workers had originally raised concerns about duplicate entries in the constituency's electoral rolls and said 7,650 duplicate entries were identified in Jayanagar alone. He maintained that filing for removal of alleged fake or duplicate voters should not attract criminal proceedings and said he would challenge the FIRs through both legal and political channels.

Notably, Ramamurthy had defeated Sowmya Reddy in the Jayanagar Assembly constituency by a razor-thin margin of just 16 votes, lending an acute political dimension to the dispute.

Congress Raises Community-Targeting Allegation

Beyond the procedural dispute, the Congress has alleged that Form-7 applications were being misused to disproportionately target voters belonging to a particular community, and has demanded stringent action against those allegedly filing false deletion requests. The charge adds a communal undercurrent to what is ostensibly a voter-roll administration controversy.

What Happens Next

The demand for a CID and SIT inquiry now puts pressure on the state government — led by the Congress — to either act or explain why existing FIRs are sufficient. The Election Commission of India is also likely to face calls to clarify the legal jurisdiction over Form-7 complaints. With local body and assembly by-election cycles on the horizon, the integrity of Karnataka's electoral rolls is set to remain a flashpoint.