BENGALURU: The fact-finding committee constituted by the BJP to probe the cross-voting allegations in the recent MLC polls submitted its report to Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra on Saturday.
The three-member committee, headed by senior MLC CT Ravi, also had party state vice-president Mahesh and Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA Mahesh Tenginkai as members.
It remains to be seen whether Vijayendra will send the report to BJP national president Nitin Nabin, whom he met in New Delhi recently.
“We three discussed the matter and prepared the report, mentioning only the points agreed upon by all of us. We have made a list of those suspected of cross-voting, gathered inputs from the media and members of the public, and held discussions with them. We also held discussions with candidates and gathered their opinions. We also consulted JDS leaders, opposition leaders, chief whips, and media persons. We have collected local information, and circumstantial details were obtained,” Ravi told media persons.
Citing the report, Ravi alleged that the Congress used unethical methods to conduct cross-voting in the recent MLC polls. “Congress leaders should not think that cross-voting is being done by our MLAs out of loyalty towards the Congress. When cross-voting occurs in other states, Congress preaches that it is against the values of democracy. But now they have devalued democracy through cross-voting. Therefore, they have no morality to question cross-voting anymore,” Ravi lashed out.
The report contains what precautions should have been taken and what precautions were not taken in the elections, he said. “Since this is an internal investigation, we cannot divulge more details,” he added.
He said that 12 NDA MLAs, including four from BJP cross-voted, of which one was invalid. It resulted in JDS candidate Inchara Govindaraju of JDS facing a humiliating defeat by securing only 14 votes.
According to sources, the panel suggested that the BJP leadership should keep a check on those MLAs whose moves are stealthy.
In the elections held on June 16, the Congress won five of the seven seats. Thanks to cross-voting, the Congress secured 151 votes, well beyond its expected 140.