BENGALURU: Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Sunday warned that the party would lay siege to police stations and district police chiefs’ offices if the police continued registering FIRs against BJP workers for submitting Form 7 applications seeking deletion of names from electoral rolls.
Addressing the media after a BJP core committee meeting chaired in the presence of state co-in-charge Kasam Venkatesh, Vijayendra accused the Congress government of misusing the police against BJP workers despite the High Court pulling it up over the issue.
“If the government continues to register FIRs against our workers for submitting Form 7 applications, we have decided to lay siege to the concerned police stations and SP offices,” he said.
The meeting also discussed the issuance of Permanent Resident Certificates (PRCs), bypolls and preparations for zilla panchayat (ZP) and taluk panchayat (TP) elections.
Vijayendra objected to the government authorising Panchayat Development Officers and municipal commissioners to issue PRCs. He demanded that the power be restricted to tahsildars and officials above that rank, and urged the government to withdraw its order. The party would also write to the government and bring the issue to the Election Commission’s attention, he said.
On the upcoming bypoll, Vijayendra said the BJP would consult JD(S) leaders and coordinate with its ally to field a candidate with the objective of winning.
With the government having announced reservation categories for ZP and TP elections, the BJP had begun preparations to contest the polls. However, he alleged that some reservations appeared to favour the ruling party and had created confusion. The government should resolve the discrepancies and conduct the elections without delay, he said.
The core committee also discussed the possible induction of new members. Vijayendra said the final decision on reconstituting the committee rested with the party’s national president.