Haldwani: A controversy over the alleged misuse of identity credentials and an online portal to seek the deletion of 28 voters’ names from the electoral roll in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, has reached the national political arena. Ikram Ali, a BJP booth-level agent who filed a complaint in the matter, travelled to Delhi and met several senior INDIA bloc leaders and MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, TMC MP Mahua Moitra and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Ali claimed that he had been working as a BJP Booth Level Agent-2 (BLA-2) for the past six months. He said he reached Delhi on October 30 to bring the alleged electoral irregularities to the attention of opposition leaders.
During his visit, he met Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and P. Chidambaram. He also presented the matter to representatives of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Mahua Moitra, Mehbooba Mufti and more than 20 other INDIA bloc MPs and senior leaders.
Alleged misuse of electoral portal credentials
Ali was accompanied by Sabaad Alam, state coordinator of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), and other representatives of the organisation.
They informed the leaders that Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters’ names had allegedly been submitted through the electoral portal using fabricated identities and misused login credentials in the Indiranagar area of Haldwani.
Ali claimed that the leaders assured him that they would follow the matter and raise it on appropriate platforms.
Court orders FIR after police complaint
Ali had initially approached the police with a complaint alleging fraudulent use of his identity and portal login details. However, after an FIR was not registered, he approached the court of the Judicial Magistrate under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
On October 6, Judicial Magistrate First Class Shubhangi Gupta directed the police to register an FIR and investigate the allegations.
The police subsequently filed a petition before the sessions court seeking a stay on the magistrate’s order. However, the court dismissed the petition on October 30, leaving the direction to register an FIR and conduct an investigation in force.
28 voters allegedly targeted through online Form 7 applications
The controversy emerged during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Indiranagar, Haldwani.
According to Ali, an unidentified person allegedly used his identity and login credentials to submit online Form 7 applications seeking the deletion of 28 voters’ names.
He claimed that the applications were submitted on August 12, 2026, targeting voters listed under Part Number 134. Ali said he came to know about the applications on August 20 and maintained that he had neither submitted them himself nor authorised anyone else to do so on his behalf.
Sessions court rejects police plea
According to advocate Manish Kumar Pandey, who is representing the complainant, the application under Section 175(3) of the BNSS was filed after the police allegedly failed to act on the complaint.
Following the magistrate’s October 6 order, the police approached the sessions court seeking a stay. The petition was dismissed on October 30.
Pandey said questions were also raised during the hearing about the police authorities’ grounds for challenging the order on behalf of the alleged affected parties. The court proceedings also addressed the police’s responsibility to register an FIR and investigate when information about a cognisable offence is received.
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for December 7.
Digital evidence expected to be key to investigation
The investigation is expected to focus on Form 7 applications submitted through the Election Commission’s portal, user IDs, login records and other electronic evidence.
Examination of these records could help establish who submitted the applications seeking deletion of the 28 voters’ names and whether Ali’s identity and login credentials were used without his consent. The investigation is also expected to examine whether other individuals were involved.
The allegations have not yet been independently established, and the matter remains under investigation.
Nainital Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Manjunath TC said the police were investigating allegations that another person’s identity and login credentials had been used to seek the deletion of 28 voters’ names during the SIR exercise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=RtToJsBhYBatUrym&v=mOuYNSdhjHA&feature=youtu.be
