Serious allegations of electoral manipulation have surfaced in Kerala, with IUML legislator AKM Ashraf accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of deliberately targeting Muslim voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking in Thiruvananthapuram, Ashraf claimed that BJP leaders are working hand-in-hand with electoral officials to file false objections aimed at deleting legitimate voters, particularly from minority communities. According to him, this is not a routine verification exercise but a calculated attempt to reshape voter lists in closely contested constituencies.

Ashraf, who represents the Manjeshwar Assembly constituency in Kasaragod, said he personally appeared before the Electoral Registration Officer along with residents whose names were flagged for deletion. He revealed that dozens of Form 7 applications — meant strictly for genuine cases like death or permanent relocation — were allegedly pushed in bulk after pressure from BJP district-level leaders. Some long-time voters, including elderly residents and first-time voters with valid documents, were suddenly branded as “non-citizens” or “permanently shifted,” raising serious questions about the integrity of the revision process.

Calling the situation an open attack on democratic rights, Ashraf announced he would file a formal complaint and seek legal action against those involved. He warned that such tactics might work in regions with weak oversight but would not go unchallenged in Kerala, where political awareness is high and margins of victory are often razor-thin. While district authorities have defended the review process as being conducted after hearings from both sides, the MLA insists the pattern of deletions overwhelmingly targets minority voters. If proven true, the issue could snowball into a major electoral controversy — not just about voter lists, but about the systematic erosion of fair representation itself.