TEN CRITICAL QUESTIONS ON CURRENT GEOPLOITICAL AND NATIONAL ISSUES – 191

PRERNA FOR IAS

(ASSOCIATE OF SAMKALP)

TEN CRITICAL QUESTIONS ON CURRENT GEOPLOITICAL AND NATIONAL ISSUES – 191

1. How can India ensure clean electoral rolls without excluding genuine voters?

Answer: The objective should be accuracy with inclusion. Electoral rolls must remove duplicate, deceased or otherwise ineligible entries, but an eligible citizen should not lose the opportunity to vote merely because of a procedural or data error. The supplied summary says the Election Commission has ordered a special enrolment exercise for eligible citizens left out after SIR. Article 326 makes adult suffrage central to representative democracy. Therefore, verification should include individual notice, transparent reasons, accessible Form 6 procedures and effective appeals. Electoral integrity has two sides: preventing wrongful inclusion and preventing wrongful exclusion.

2. What does the controversy over Form 7 applications teach us about electoral integrity?

Answer: Form 7 is necessary because electoral rolls need a lawful mechanism to object to an existing entry or seek deletion. But an application itself should not automatically remove a voter. The supplied summary reports allegations of false or forged bulk Form 7 applications in Karnataka and says authorities were directed to act against knowingly false submissions. Current reporting confirms that Karnataka's CEO directed EROs to act against knowingly false declarations; broader political allegations remain contested. The correct principle is verification before disenfranchisement: notice, individual scrutiny, reasoned decisions and penalties for deliberate fraud.