BENGALURU: Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday alleged that the ruling Congress is attempting to include illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the voters’ list in Ramanagara (Bengaluru South district).
Addressing reporters here, he alleged that the Election Commission’s norms are being violated during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Ramanagara.
Terming it a SIR scam, Kumaraswamy released a video of the exercise at a community hall in Ramanagara. He alleged that the Congress government is attempting to derail the SIR exercise not only in Ramanagara, but also in other parts of Karnataka. He demanded that the Ramanagara deputy commissioner be suspended immediately and action initiated against all officials responsible for the alleged irregularities.
He alleged that on the direction of the chief minister, attempts are being made to create documents for thousands of fake voters, including illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. He urged the EC to intervene immediately and put an end to the alleged irregularities.
Stating that the alleged irregularities in SIR spoke about the state of democracy, Kumaraswamy said, “This is the work of a party that claims to uphold the Constitution.”
Referring to the video, he said instead of BLOs conducting the mandatory door-to-door verification, thousands of people were brought to a community hall at Tipu Nagar in Ramanagara for the exercise. “This is a systematic conspiracy to provide voting rights to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. This is nothing but a threat to national security’’ he added.
Kumaraswamy accused the officials of yielding to the ruling party’s pressure and violating the SIR norms. He said the videos of the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise in Ramanagara will be submitted to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the ECI.
He accused the Karnataka government of introducing caste in the revision of beneficiaries under its guarantee schemes. The government is attempting to divide society on the caste lines ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections to retain power, he alleged.
JDS writes to CEO
The legal cell of JDS has filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka regarding the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise in Ramanagara. In the complaint, legal cell president AP Rangananath sought a detailed inquiry into the conduct of BLOs in Ramanagara assembly constituency. The AERO (tahasildar of Ramanagara taluk) should be replaced immediately, he said. He said a special state-level monitoring team should be constituted and its members sent to Ramanagara to oversee the SIR process.
BLOS MUST VISIT HOUSES, DISTRIBUTE FORMS: CM
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday issued a directive to Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) to visit houses and distribute enumeration forms. Referring to allegations that such forms are being distributed to voters by gathering them at community halls and other places, he said, “This matter has come to my notice. It is illegal. We will not allow it. This will not be allowed even if MLAs from my party are involved.” “The BJP MLA from Jayanagar is doing it.
There is time till July 29. I have instructed the officials to ensure that the BLOs visit houses across the state as part of SIR,” the CM said. “It is the responsibility of our government to protect people’s right to vote. We have decided to set up help centres in all wards and booths. Opposition parties make allegations for political gains. We are here to serve the people. We will do our duty,” he said.