Police have registered FIRs over alleged fraudulent Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters from electoral rolls in Bengaluru and Ballari, sparking a political showdown between the Congress and the BJP.

In Jayanagar, a complaint by Congress leader Sowmya Reddy says 5,698 Form 7 applications sought deletions, with more than 4,327 names removed from Ward 171, Particle News reported. Two booth-level agents and others were named in the FIR for allegedly using forged signatures.

In Malleshwaram’s Ward 64, 778 Form 7 applications are under scanner after a complaint named a BJP booth-level agent. In Ballari, an FIR was registered against a BJP booth-level agent, a corporator and three officials over an alleged bid to delete 7,561 voters, IANS reported.

The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer has ordered action against knowingly false electoral claims. The Congress alleges a conspiracy to disenfranchise minority and Dalit voters, while the BJP dismissed the charges as diversionary and said identifying fake voters is not a crime.