BJP to launch four-day Jan Swaraj Yatra in Karnataka from November 18
Bengaluru, Nov: The BJP will launch a four-day 'Jan Swaraj Yatra' across Karnataka from November 18 with an eye on winning the coming taluk panchayat and district panchayat elections, the party's state spokesperson Ganesh Karnik said here on Tuesday.
"We are launching 'Jan Swaraj Yatra' for four days from November 18. Four teams will travel across the four corners of the state for four days with a focus on winning the Taluk and district Panchayat elections," he said.
Karnik was briefing reporters on the BJP state office bearers meeting on Tuesday.
BJP national general secretaries Arun Singh, B L Santhosh and C T Ravi, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Karnataka BJP state general secretary Arun Kumar (organisation), Karnataka ministers, legislators and other state level office bearers attended the event, he added.
Karnik said the objective of the 'Yatra' was to strengthen the party organisation at the booth level.
Apart from it, the BJP leaders also discussed the strategies to win the MLC elections for 25 seats in December 10 and two seats in June next year. Deliberations were also held on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections, Karnik said.
The BJP spokesperson added that the outcome of the bypoll results were also discussed in the meeting.
While the BJP won Sindgi, it lost Hangal in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's home district Haveri to Congress.
Karnik said the Hangal elections had always been tough for all the political parties as the victory margin was never high.
A decision was also taken to hold the state executive committee meeting on December 18 and 19 at Hubballi, he said.
The leaders also expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the achievement of crossing over a billion COVID-19 vaccinations in the country.
They also thanked Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for bringing down the petrol and diesel prices substantially in the state, Karnik said.
To a query on the Congress starting a yatra from Mekedatu to Bengaluru to expedite taking up the balancing reservoir project across Cauvery in Mekedatu in Kanakapura district, Karnik said Congress is free to carry out its own yatra.
He, however, wondered why the party did not start the project when it was in power for five years from 2014 to 2019.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
