K'taka mulls holding local body polls using ballot papers: Shivakumar

Bengaluru, Nov 8 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar on Saturday said that the government is considering holding local body elections in the state using ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The statement has assumed significance as election to Bengaluru civic agency would be held sooner.

Shivakumar, while addressing a joint press conference with CM Siddaramaiah over voter fraud in Bengaluru, stated: "When we ask the Election Commission for supporting documents for investigating electoral malpractice, they ask us to provide proof. Therefore, we are considering holding municipal elections using ballot papers. "

“In the Aland constituency of Karnataka, our MLA and Minister Priyank Kharge had raised complaints of malpractice even before the elections. The Election Commission later began investigating. Fake applications were filed at 4 a.m. to delete names from the voter list -- in 17 minutes, 14 votes were removed.

Around 6,000 deletions were attempted. The SIT investigation revealed that out-of-state individuals used their mobile numbers to manipulate deletions,” he said.

"At the protest held in Freedom Park, Bengaluru, Rahul Gandhi, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, and our Chief Minister highlighted these irregularities, sending a strong message to the nation. This is not limited to one constituency -- similar fraud has occurred in Gandhi Nagar and others. Voter lists were manipulated to shift minority, backward, and Dalit voters’ names across booths to reduce Congress support,” he explained.

"The Election Commission bears full responsibility for electoral processes. In 256 booths, 7,250 votes were deleted using Form 7 misuse. Applications originated from mobile numbers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, and Jharkhand.

"On February 23, at least 151 voters whose names were deleted filed complaints. The Commission, however, has not cooperated despite 12 letters from the investigation officers. BJP candidate Subhash Guttedar reportedly burned documents, including voter lists. It has emerged that Rs 80 was paid for every deleted vote," Shivakumar stated.

"We had earlier exposed how Chilume organisation was misused before the Assembly election. The investigation report will be out soon,” he said.

"The Commission is acting like a BJP agent, and our goal is to raise awareness and protect the right to vote,” he said.

On whether the Election Commission is ignoring the allegations: “Over 300 MPs have submitted a proposal to the Central Election Commission. Till today, there has been no response. They say they’ll file an FIR but take no action. They know who will be exposed if they investigate. Still, we are pursuing our efforts,” he said.

--IANS

mka/pgh