Congress alleges scam in collection of voter data

Bengaluru: Leaders of the Congress party in Karnataka have accused the BJP led State Government of conducting malpractices in the management of voters list. The BJP had allegedly stolen data of voters by employing a private agency to conduct voter ID renewals.

The Congress leaders involved in making this claim hosted a press conference at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) head office in Bengaluru. Karnataka State party in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, KPCC President D K Shivakumar, and opposition leader Siddaramaiah made the claim at the press conference. According to Surjewala, the Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) municipal corporation Tushar Giri Nath and the Election Commission are jointly involved in this scam.

D K Shivakumar claimed that BJP workers in the state are given government approved ID cards to perform voter ID renewals. "Thousands of BJP workers are hired by a private agency on contract. They have been provided with identity cards to perform voter ID renewals. These renewals are meant to be done by the government officials and not party workers," he alleged.

"Around 18,000 of these identity cards have been distributed in Bengaluru. With these ID cards, the BJP workers are going door to door and getting information about voters including their political affiliations," Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar also stated that several rules are being violated by the BJP in this matter. "Articles 324, 325 and 326 of the Indian Constitution and Section 28 of the Representation of People's Act clearly mentions that only government officials are permitted to perform these tasks," he added.

M B Patil, the Chairman of KPCC Campaign Committee alleged that this malpractice was initially started in Mahadevapura constituency of Bengaluru. He also went on to say that the BJP has initiated this practice in all 224 assembly constituencies in the state.

Another strong allegation from Shivakumar is about the exclusion of minorities, SCs, STs and OBCs in the voters list. He also alleged that empty houses are marked by the BJP workers and voters from other constituencies are accommodated in the houses.

Chief Minister Bommai on the other hand, has dismissed all these accusations as baseless and flawed. However, he announced on Thursday that a comprehensive probe will be launched into the alleged data theft issue.

"The truth about this matter will come out. A comprehensive probe will be conducted. Every aspect will be considered including the direction of the Election Commission. The Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme will be conducted for BBMP. NGOs will help in performing this task as directed by the Commission. This role of NGOs in voter awareness was also done during Congress-led government in 2018," Bommai said.

Responding to Siddaramaiah's demand for his resignation, Bommai said that it was a ridiculous demand to make. "If I have to resign for such an allegation, the Congress Chief Ministers must have ideally resigned thrice," he mocked.

Meanwhile, a word is out that the BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath will most likely be transferred after these allegations surfaced.