Chitradurga: Deputy commissioner S Ramya has warned of stringent legal action against those found submitting applications with false information or violating rules during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Speaking at a meeting with representatives of recognised political parties at the DC’s office, Ramya said applications for inclusion, correction and objections in electoral rolls were being processed transparently and strictly in accordance with election rules.Responding to concerns raised by political representatives over inconvenience allegedly faced by voters during verification, she said those unable to attend hearings for personal or other reasons would not be disadvantaged.Officials will identify voters who fail to attend hearings, visit their residences and complete verification based on their addresses and photographs. There was no need for anyone to panic, she said.Ramya said verification would be conducted in phases at the booth level to avoid confusion and overcrowding caused by summoning large numbers of voters to hearing centres simultaneously. Complaints would be addressed with the assistance of booth-level officers (BLOs) and booth level agent-2 (BLA-2) representatives of political parties.District Congress general secretary D N Mailarappa questioned the origin of Form 7 applications and urged authorities to immediately register FIRs against those who submitted them. He also appealed to officials not to subject voters to unnecessary hearings.Ramya said anyone could submit an application and verification of those received so far was under way. No decision could be taken before completion of the inquiry, she said.Applications would not be accepted outright merely because hundreds had been submitted by one side. Officials and BLOs would conduct field verification before taking a decision, she added.Additional deputy commissioner BT Kumaraswamy, tahsildar BM Govindaraj, election tahsildar Bibi Fatima and representatives of political parties attended the meeting.
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