BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra challenged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to prove his allegation that the BJP conspired to delete around 50 lakh voters’ names through Form-7 applications. He said that if Shivakumar cannot prove, he should resign as CM. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Friday, Vijayendra accused the CM of staging a “political drama” by cancelling the cabinet meeting and protesting before the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, on Thursday.
Vijayendra said that Shivakumar had accused the BJP of using Form-7 applications to remove minorities, Dalits and Backward Classes voters from the electoral rolls. “If the Chief Minister has made such serious allegations of conspiracy against the BJP, he must prove them. Otherwise, he should resign,” Vijayendra said.
The Shikaripura MLA stated that at the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in Mysuru, the number of voters had increased by around 1.3 lakh over the last two elections. He said BJP Minority Morcha president Anil Thomas had visited the constituency during the SIR process and allegedly found thousands of people gathered at one location in connection with the revision exercise. He alleged that when some of those gathered around Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were asked, they allegedly turned out to be from other states or other Assembly constituencies.
Vijayendra also alleged that similar irregularities had taken place in several Assembly constituencies, including Shantinagar and Shivajinagar in Bengaluru and Kalaburagi South and some pockets where there is more minority population.
Vijayendra also alleged he had received information from Mangaluru that some people from Kerala border areas had allegedly got their names included in electoral rolls in constituencies in Dakshina Kannada, including areas considered BJP stronghold.
BYV questioned the Chief Minister’s claim that 50 lakh names were being targeted for deletion during the SIR process. According to the information available to him, he said, around 25,000 Form-7 applications had been submitted in Karnataka. “Who is responsible for adding or deleting names from the electoral rolls?” he asked, pointing out that the ECI had initiated the SIR process and that BLOs and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were involved in the process.
Vijayendra also said that Form-7 was an officially prescribed mechanism for filing objections to electoral roll entries and said its use was not illegal. He accused the State Government of putting pressure on the ECI to register FIRs against BJP workers.
BJP MLC and former minister CT Ravi has accused the Congress of making political allegations against the Election Commission of India. The exercise did not begin under the BJP government, such Special Intensive Revisions have been carried out since the first general election of 1951-52, he added. Citing media reports of illegal residents in Bengaluru institutions and coffee estates, Ravi urged the state government to set up a Special Investigation Team.
He said a written complaint with names, serial numbers and polling booth details had been filed regarding thousands of suspected illegal voters in Belagavi North, the BJP leader added.