Mangaluru: The controversy over the alleged misuse of Form 7 during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has intensified in Dakshina Kannada, with the Congress accusing BJP leaders of attempting to obstruct police action in such cases.

Dakshina Kannada District Congress president R. Padmaraj Poojary alleged that some BJP leaders were warning police against taking action over the alleged misuse of Form 7 and had even threatened to enter police stations.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress office in Mangaluru, Poojary said protecting those allegedly involved in unlawful activities and threatening to enter police stations could not be justified.

He alleged that 66 Christian voters in Jokatte had been targeted through applications seeking deletion of their names from the electoral rolls. He said the Congress would ensure that no genuine voter was excluded from the electoral rolls if any such irregularity had taken place.

Poojary also questioned the conduct of senior BJP leaders who, he said, had held important positions and even governed the state. He asked whether such leaders had any moral justification to continue in politics while allegedly attempting to interfere with police action.

Referring to reports of a former chief minister threatening to enter a police station, Poojary questioned the propriety of such a statement by a person who had previously held the state's top political office.

Meanwhile, police action has also been initiated in Dakshina Kannada in connection with allegations involving Form 7. In a recent case, Mangaluru's Kavu(r) police registered a case against four persons following a court direction over allegations that Form 7 applications had been submitted seeking deletion of the names of 68 voters.

However, election officials have clarified that filing Form 7 does not automatically result in the deletion of a voter's name. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar recently stated that 91,278 Form 7 applications had been received during the SIR exercise, but not a single voter's name had been deleted on the basis of Form 7 so far.