BENGALURU: With four Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials in police custody on charges of helping the tainted NGO Chilume and over 100 Palike revenue officials being served police notices in the voter's data theft case, there are reports that BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath may be shunted out.
There is speculation that former BBMP commissioners Gaurav Gupta or N Manjunath Prasad may be brought back to head the civic agency.
Reacting to the reports of a possible transfer, Girinath said, “I don’t know anything about this (rumours). We are just doing our work.”
Last week, the Election Commission (EC) suspended two senior BBMP officials -- Rangappa, Admin Commissioner and Additional Electoral Registration Officer, and K Srinivas, Bengaluru DC, Admin Commissioner and Additional Electoral Registration Officer --- for the alleged lapses. According to a senior official, more heads are likely to roll as the ECI feels its reputation is under threat.
The scam has also given ammo to Congress to corner the BJP in an election year. Former Bengaluru in-charge minister R Ramalinga Reddy said, “No point in taking action against some BBMP officials. Few ministers and even the CM himself, who has retained the Bengaluru Development portfolio, should be held responsible.”
Meanwhile, following the directions of the EC, the state government has appointed Assistant Electoral Registration Officer in all 224 assembly segments to assist Electoral Registration Officers to prepare the voters’ list.