‘Not an Indian’: Why BJP wants community-based deletion from electoral rolls under SIR in Kerala’s Manjeshwar?

Kasaragod: On February 15, Kasaragod District Collector Inbasekar K ordered the registration of an FIR against BJP district secretary Lokesh Nonda S for allegedly filing a false complaint to delete the name of K Mohammed (55), a daily wage labourer from Paivalike grama panchayat, from the electoral roll of the Manjeshwar Assembly constituency.

In a Form 7 application -- meant for raising objections in the voters' list -- Nonda alleged that Mohammed was "not an Indian citizen." The complaint triggered outrage in the UDF camp.

After a hearing on February 13, the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) found the allegation baseless. The Collector said the BJP leader had "deliberately filed false information", attracting Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which makes false declarations in connection with electoral rolls punishable with up to one year in prison, or fine, or both.

Submitting objections under Form 7 is a legal right. But deliberately misleading the democratic process will invite strict legal action, the Collector, who is also the District Election Officer, said. "He (Mohammed) will be included in the electoral roll," Collector Inbasekar, who is also the District Election Officer, told Onmanorama.

The Collector's directive came soon after Manjeshwar MLA and IUML leader A K M Ashraf announced he would approach the High Court, citing the same legal provision and demanding action against the BJP leader.

While misuse of Form 7 has been reported from several states amid the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, this appears to be among the first instances in Kerala where criminal proceedings have been initiated for filing an allegedly false objection.

Going after neighbours?
Mohammed, who lives about a kilometre from Nonda's house in Kayyar village, said he was lost when he received a notice from the booth-level officer (BLO) saying he was not an Indian citizen. "I thought it was mistaken identity. I have been here since 2005, living with my wife and two daughters. My youngest studies in Class 10 in the same school where I studied," he said. He said he produced his voter ID, Aadhaar and ration card at the hearing in the Taluk office.

Nonda had also filed six more Form 7 applications seeking deletion of the names of six Muslim women -- Nabeesa (75), Asma (64), Safiya, Zubaida (55), Mohseena Sunaifa and Khadeejath Kubra -- from Booth No. 128 at Sree Ramakrishna Aided Lower Primary School at Kayyar, claiming they have "permanently shifted out" of the booth.

Nabeesa is Nonda's next-door neighbour, and they often meet and greet each other. At the hearing at the Manjeshwar Taluk Office in Uppala, the complainant was initially absent. "We insisted he be present," said Zulfikar Ali B, former Paivalike panchayat member from Kayyar ward, and Nabeesa's son.

When Nonda turned up, Zulfikar Ali did not ask for proof of his complaint. "I only asked the ERO to make him say it to my mother's face that she does not live in her own house," he said. Nonda stayed mum.

When contacted, Nabeesa said she had never left her village in 75 years, except for a 40-day pilgrimage to Mecca.

When Onmanorama contacted Nonda, he stuck to his allegation that Nabeesa and the other five women did not live within the jurisdiction of his booth (no. 128). But he admitted that his complaint against Mohammed was a "mistake". "I wanted to say he was not a resident. It appeared as a citizen," he said with a sheepish laugh.

That explanation does not hold true, one because he wrote "not Indian citizen" in full as the reason for Mohammed, and "permanently shifted" for the other six women. Two, he did not give this explanation to the ERO, who is also a Deputy Collector.

Demography of democracy
The BJP has coveted Manjeshwar -- Kerala's northernmost constituency on the Karnataka border -- since 1987, when it first emerged as the No. 2 party in the segment. That was the year the Congress ceded the seat to its ally, the IUML, and Cherkalam Abdulla wrested it from the LDF.

Since then, the LDF has largely remained in third place, influential enough to tilt outcomes, but rarely a serious contender for the seat.

In 1991, the BJP came within touching distance of victory when its senior Kerala leader, K G Marar, lost to Abdulla by just 1,072 votes. The near-misses became tighter over time. In 2016, BJP's K Surendran narrowed the margin to 89 votes against IUML's P B Abdul Razak. Surendran moved the High Court, alleging bogus voting. Razak, in a gesture that became local folklore, bought an Innova with "89" as its registration number to mark the slender but significant win.

In 2021, Surendran lost again -- this time to IUML's A K M Ashraf -- by 745 votes. Having first contested here in 2011, Surendran is expected to mount his fourth attempt in 2026.

Over the years, Surendran cultivated a low-key, door-to-door campaign style, often encouraging the perception that the LDF was a formidable force. The strategy worked to the BJP's advantage: as more Left-leaning Muslim voters opted for the LDF, the IUML's margin over the BJP narrowed, keeping the contest tight.

There is a reason for that. After the election became an IUML vs BJP fight in Manjeshwar, the voting pattern settled along communal lines, but the consolidation favoured the BJP more.

An estimated 75% to 80% of Hindu voters consolidated behind the BJP. The IUML, however, secured only around 65% of the Muslim votes, with the LDF drawing the remainder. Of the roughly 40,000 votes the LDF polls in the constituency, nearly 30,000 -- about three-fourths -- are believed to come from Muslims. The BJP's prospects improve in direct proportion to the LDF's ability to attract Muslim voters.

However, the recent developments in Manjeshwar, particularly the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, may have complicated this arithmetic of the BJP.

The SIR effect
Given the fluid Kerala–Karnataka border and close family ties on both sides, grassroots political workers have long encouraged some residents to enrol as voters in both Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod.

When the rolls were cleaned up as part of the SIR, more voters favourable to the BJP were deleted, claimed Zulfikar Ali, who tracks enrolment trends for the IUML in the constituency. He claimed that around 17,000 names were removed from the draft electoral roll in Manjeshwar. "Of these, roughly 11,000 traditionally voted for the BJP," he said.

More consequential, he argued, was the social reaction to the revision. Fears that the SIR could become a precursor to a National Register of Citizens (NRC)-type exercise appear to have galvanised sections of the Muslim community. "In previous years, when we approached some people to enrol, they were indifferent. This time, they approached us," Zulfikar said.

According to him, the IUML facilitated the addition of around 14,000 new names, while the BJP managed to add about 3,400. For the IUML, the SIR deletions, the surge in fresh registrations, and the fallout from the assault have altered electoral calculations. Zulfikar said party planners are now projecting a lead of up to 20,000 votes.

It is in this context that A K M Ashraf alleged that the BJP began using Form 7 objections to target voters from "a particular community". He further claimed that a section of officials acted in concert with the party.

To support the allegation, Ashraf said the booth-level officer (BLO) had submitted a report describing Lokesh Nonda's Form 7 complaint against Mohammed as baseless. "Instead of rejecting it, the ERO summoned Mohammed to prove his citizenship," he said. "It is harassment. It is painful to accuse someone of not being an Indian citizen."

Nonda said that the BJP had identified around 5,000 "non-resident" voters in Manjeshwar and that booth-level functionaries were asked to file Form 7 objections.

"I submitted 71 Form 7 applications from his booth (No. 128) to the ERO," he said. The ERO, however, asked him to submit them online. "So, I handed over the 71 applications to the BLO, who forwarded them to the Assistant ERO. Of the 71 applications, the Assistant ERO uploaded only seven applications," Nonda said. "It was the officials who wrote 'not a citizen' while entering the Form 7 against Mohammed," he alleged.

When told that uploading Form 7 required OTP verification from the complainant, he said -- with a soft chuckle -- that officials from the Assistant ERO's office had called him seven times for OTPs.

The claim could be an attempt to deflect responsibility. But if taken at face value, it lends weight to Ashraf's allegation that a section of the administration was facilitating the BJP's objections. For now, only the seven cases have come under scrutiny.

Against this build-up, an assault on two migrant workers unloading cattle for slaughter has further inflamed communal undercurrents in the constituency. Ashraf called it the BJP "launching its election campaign" through polarisation.