BJP to stage protest on Aug 5 to counter Rahul Gandhi-led ‘vote theft’ protest

Bengaluru: The BJP will stage a protest at Vidhana Soudha on August 5 to counter Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s agitation on the same day against his claim of “vote theft” during the Lok Sabha polls last year. 

Announcing this, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said all his party’s MLAs, MPs, MLCs and leaders will protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha “to inform the public about Congress’ misleading stand.”

Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra. 

After the protest, a BJP delegation will head to Raj Bhavan and submit a petition to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot. 

On August 5, Rahul is scheduled to participate in the Congress’ protest at Freedom Park. After that, he and a few party leaders will visit the Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office to submit a memorandum on irregularities in the Lok Sabha polls last year. 

Vijayendra said Congress had launched a new narrative in Karnataka and across India on widespread election fraud. 

“They (Congress) have lost faith in democracy. They’ve lost faith in constitutional bodies. (CM) Siddaramaiah and (deputy chief minister) D K Shivakumar have also joined their voices. If there were irregularities, how did the Congress come to power in Karnataka? How did they win all three bye-elections?” Vijayendra asked, accusing Rahul of staging “a deceptive drama” out of “sheer frustration”. 

The Congress’ allegation, which Vijayendra described as “an attack on democracy”, amounts to questioning the state government’s own officials who conducted elections, he said. “Don’t the CM and DCM trust their own officers - teachers, tahsildars, deputy commissioners et al - who carried out election duties?” he asked.

The Congress has claimed that voters were added to the Mahadevapura constituency, which helped the BJP win the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha segment by 32,707 votes. 

Bangalore Central MP PC Mohan said it was natural for the number of voters to increase in Mahadevapura and other areas outside the city’s core.