Congress petitions EC over 'electoral fraud' in Karnataka

There is a 'brazen electoral fraud committed in Karnataka' with the 'active connivance and blessings' of Bommai, Congress leaders said

The Congress, on Wednesday, knocked the Election Commission’s doors seeking action against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in a case of 'brazen electoral fraud,' by which voters’ data was allowed to be collected and stored by a private entity and names of 27 lakh people were deleted from the voters’ list, to 'impact electoral outcome'.

A delegation of Congress leaders, including general secretary incharge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala, state Congress chief D K Shivakumar and campaign committee chairman M B Patil, met chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and other election commissioners to apprise them about Chilume Trust and Chilume Enterprises collecting voters' data in the guise of official representatives.

There is a 'brazen electoral fraud committed in Karnataka' with the 'active connivance and blessings' of Bommai, officers of BBMP and the state government as well as private entities, the memorandum submitted by the delegation, which included leaders Priyank Kharge, Nazeer Ahmed and Pranav Jha, said.

Also read | Votegate: Congress goes to EC, says Bommai is 'kingpin'

“An urgent and immediate investigation should be initiated by the commission. It must also initiate criminal law and ensure registration of FIR against Bommai, officials and employees of BBMP and the government involved in the scam as also officials of private entities and NGOs who committed the fraud under political patronage,” the memorandum said.

Surjewala told reporters that the fraud was committed by a private company 'associated and affiliated' with BJP.

“The employees hired by Chilume Trust and Chilume Enterprises have stolen voter data by impersonating government officials. They got fake identity cards printed and this itself proved to be a huge theft of voter information,” he said.

The data collected by these entities were uploaded on a private app, Surjewala said, claiming that names of 27 lakh people were deleted from the voters’ list, while adding 11 lakh.

“We showed the commission how names were deleted from the voters’ list of specific constituencies. The SC, ST, OBC, poor voters were targeted in order to impact the electoral outcome,” Surjewala said, adding that the commission promised strict action against the culprits.

He said the commission told the delegation that a deputy election commissioner has been assigned to look into the matter and has been sent to Bengaluru for investigation.

“The EC has assured us that they will file an FIR, ensure that the list is clean and action will be taken against all, without hesitation,” Surjewala said.

In its memorandum, the Congress said the BBMP gave permission to Chilume Trust to conduct voter awareness drives in 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru “without any advertisement and without undertaking any verification or background check”.