‘Dead’, ‘alien’ voters blame Form 7 for ‘silent deletion’

Kolkata: Form-7 objections, which have already become controversial in other states undergoing the SIR of electoral rolls, have now emerged as a flashpoint in Bengal as well, with allegations that the provision is being misused to challenge the citizenship or life status of thousands of voters during the ongoing 2026 revision of electoral rolls.

Allegations of several irregularities surfaced in parts of Bengal, with a civil rights group claiming that thousands of voters, "predominantly Muslims", were wrongly flagged as "not Indian citizen" or "dead" through mass Form-7 objections in Sandeshkhali and Central Howrah assembly seats. "Our preliminary fact-finding report found procedural violations, lack of verification by election authorities, and targeted harassment of Muslims during the revision process through Form 7 applications," said Syed Imtiaz Ali, joint secretary of APCR West Bengal.


Form-7 is a statutory application under election rules that can be submitted by a voter registered in electoral roll. It allows a voter to raise an objection against another registered voter.

According to the report, in Sandeshkhali, a list titled "Objection for Proposed Inclusion i.c.w. SIR 2026" was displayed at booths on Jan 25. The "unsigned and unsealed" lists contained nearly 5,963 names, "all belonging to Muslim voters".

APCR claimed over 5,400 individuals were marked "Not Indian Citizen" and 444 as "Dead". It said its verification found most of those listed were alive and Indian citizens holding passports and other valid documents and legacy records. In Sandeshkhali, 81-year-old Abu Talib Gazi of part 14 said he was shocked to find his name listed among deceased voters. "My name was in the 2002 SIR rolls," said Gazi.

An entire family of 4 belonging to Ilyas Tarafdar in part 22 was marked as "Not Indian Citizen". "We have all documents, including legacy records," said Tarafdar. Another resident, Romisa Bibi, said she was declared dead despite submitting her form and possessing valid documents.

The report also states that "over 1,800 Muslim voters" received notices questioning their citizenship in Central Howrah's Shibpur. ". In many cases, dozens of objections were attributed to a single applicant," said Fiayaz Ahmed, who was involved in collecting inputs.

"On Feb 4, I received a notice regarding a ‘Not Indian Citizen' objection. There was no official seal, and the address of the applicant, Amit De Sarkar, was mentioned as ‘70/2, West Bengal,'" said Shoaib Ahmed, a resident of Shibpur in central Howrah.