Hyderabad Muslim voters say BJP BLA sought their deletion despite knowing them since childhood

Newslaundry · Oct 3, 2026

“We’ve known Balu since our childhood. We grew up together,” 30-year-old Mohammed Shareef said. He was referring to SV Balachander, the booth level agent (BLA) for polling station 210 under Hyderabad’s Musheerabad Assembly constituency.Balachander, also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been accused of submitting around thirty Form 7 applications to the polling station’s booth level officer (BLO).A BLA is appointed by a recognised political party to assist voters while a BLO is an official government appointee of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Form 7 is used to seek…