SHIVAMOGGA: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president BK Hariprasad accused the BJP of manipulating electoral rolls and alleged that the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise left out 1.7 crore voters from the state’s electoral rolls.
Hariprasad addressed a Janata Jodo Jagruti Yatra, or Bharat Jodo 2.0, convention in Shikaripura on Wednesday. Earlier, the march began at Kittadahalli with thousands of Congress workers taking part in it and culminated at Shikarpura.
Hariprasad claimed that Karnataka has 5.47 crore voters and alleged that 1.7 crore names had been left out during the SIR exercise. He also claimed that notices had been issued to 43 lakh people. “How will elderly people stand before officials and get their names included?” the Congress leader said, calling for a collective fight to protect democratic rights.
Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said those who had set a target of winning 400 seats had secured 240 seats. He further claimed that the BJP’s tally would fall to 140 seats in the next polls.
Hariprasad also criticised the recent debate surrounding Vande Mataram, saying the first two stanzas of the song were adopted in 1937 and that former President Rajendra Prasad had referred to it as the national song in 1950.
He claimed there had been no significant opposition to the song for decades and alleged that the issue was being raised to divert public attention from other matters. He also criticised a padayatra undertaken by state BJP president BY Vijayendra.
Urban Development Minister Yathindra Sidaramaiah alleged that the SIR is a conspiracy to keep eligible voters off the electoral roll and win elections illegally. “The target of SIR is the minorities, Dalits, the poor and women because they all see Congress as their last hope. Fearing that they vote for the Congress that the BJP is conspiring to remove eligible voters from the voters’ list. Democracy will die if electoral frauds happen,” he said.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarpapa said the “political hunt” had begun in Shikaripura and expressed confidence that voters would bring about a change in the constituency in the next election. “If the Congress party works like a gun, the people will attack with their votes like bullets and bring a change in Shikaripura,” Madhu said.
