BJP slams Karnataka govt for ballot paper move; says Congress 'self-certifies vote theft'

Bengaluru: Taking a swipe at the Congress government in Karnataka, the opposition BJP on Friday claimed the state cabinet’s decision to use ballot papers instead of EVMs in the next local body polls amounted to "self-certifying" that the ruling party came to power through "vote theft."

Urging the 136 Congress MLAs elected in the 2023 Assembly polls and the nine Congress MPs from the state to resign first, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra alleged, "Let them win the elections again using ballot paper, or accept that they came to power through vote theft."

The Congress government on Thursday decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) that all future panchayat and urban local body elections in Karnataka be held using ballot paper instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil had cited "erosion of public confidence and credibility in EVMs as the reason for the cabinet decision." The cabinet also authorised the SEC to "prepare, revise and, if necessary, redo" the electoral rolls for local body polls, citing discrepancies and allegations of "vote theft."

Vijayendra, in a post on 'X', claimed, "The highest number of illegal voting, complaints of vote theft, incidents of election violence, and complaints about irregularities in the country have been registered in the courts during elections held on ballot papers—and that too against Congressmen."

"The people of the country have not forgotten that Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency due to the court’s verdict in the wake of vote theft and election malpractices by her," he alleged.

Alleging that the Congress, "an expert in vote theft and election malpractices using ballot papers," was in disarray due to continuous electoral defeats, he said Rahul Gandhi was creating a "childish controversy in the name of 'vote theft', putting forward a baseless, immature and twisted argument." "To support this, the ruling Congress government in the state has decided to conduct elections using ballot papers," he added.

"While the entire country and the world are moving rapidly based on technology, the Congress government in Karnataka is insulting technology," he claimed.

According to Vijayendra, Congress under Rahul Gandhi supports ballot-based elections only because "electoral irregularities, booth violence and fraudulent voting can be committed without hesitation" through ballot papers.

"The Congress government in Karnataka is going to take the first step to implement it. The Congress’s agenda and goal is to defy the democratic system and transparent elections," he alleged.