Rahul Gandhi has evidence for his "votes theft" allegations: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has got evidence for his allegation regarding the modus operandi for "votes theft" during Lok Sabha polls in the state last year.
Amid the raging row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Gandhi on July 23 had alleged that elections are being "stolen" in the country and claimed his party has figured out the modus operandi of the "votes theft" by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka.
Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is scheduled to participate in a protest here on August 5 and submit a representation to the Election Commission officials here in this connection.
"Rahul Gandhi has got evidence. He is coming here to protest and to meet the Election Commission officials in Karnataka," the CM said in response to a question about the top Congress leader having evidence or documents to back his claims.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the nature of the protest meet and the venue will be decided soon.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the state Congress President has said the venue for the protest and nature of the event -- whether rally or protest or march -- will be decided after a meeting on Thursday citing "technical issues" and court directives for holding such events in the city.
Last week, Gandhi had said he would put before the people and the Election Commission in black in white on how the "theft of votes" is being done.
"In Karnataka, we have found out bhayankar chori (massive theft). I will show it in black and white to you and the Election Commission. I will show in black and white how the chori is done and from where. We have it in black and white in Karnataka," the former Congress president had said.
"They know that we have understood their game. We picked one constituency and did a deep dive. Problem is that they give a voters list on paper and the paper list cannot be analysed. We took the full voters list of one constituency. We put it on digital format. It took six months but we have uncovered their whole system, how they do it, who votes and from where new voters are brought," he said.
Following Gandhi's statement, Siddaramaiah too had earlier alleged that the Congress Party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls in the state was due to "illegal manipulation" of the electoral process by the BJP through its 'misuse' of the EC, and the discussions were on with his party high command to decide the necessary course of action.
He claimed that in several constituencies across the state, Congress workers reported sudden and suspicious additions of new voters, while names of long-time voters were removed without justification.
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ICC right to pull up Pakistan for boycotting Indo-Pak fixture: Rajeev Shukla
New Delhi (PTI): BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla on Monday said the the International Cricket Council (ICC) was right in warning Pakistan of severe repercussions for its selective pullout from the high-profile T20 World Cup contest against India in Colombo on February 15.
Pakistan's decision, conveyed through an official government statement, is being seen as a political protest linked to Bangladesh's removal from the tournament after the world body declined its request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka on security grounds.
The ICC has already warned Pakistan Cricket Board the a boycott of the marquee fixture could lead to punitive sanctions and said that the decision is not in the interest of the the game in general.
"The ICC has issued a big statement on this subject. It has highlighted element of sportsmanship. We completely agree with the ICC. BCCI will not make any comment until we speak to the ICC," Shukla told reporters here.
The raging controversy was sparked by Bangladesh pacer's Mustafizur Rahman's ouster from the IPL on instructions of the BCCI for unspecified reasons. Bangladesh refused to travel to India after that citing security concerns.
Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor said the game can't be held to ransom like the way it is being at the moment.
"It is pretty disgraceful that sport has been politicised in this way on both sides, frankly. I don't think that Mustafizur (Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman) should have been denied his contract to play in Kolkata. It was most unfortunate intrusion of politics," Tharoor told reporters.
"I think the Bangladeshi reaction was an overreaction but it is also a reflection of the same and Pakistan is trying to show its solidarity with Bangladesh. This whole thing is spiralling out of control.
"I honestly think this is now a wake up call for all concerned to contact each other on an emergency basis, the ICC could be the platform for it - just say, let's call off this nonsense...You can't go on like this forever," he said.
The India-Pakistan clash is the most anticipated fixture of any ICC event, drawing peak global viewership, sponsorship interest and broadcast revenues.
The host broadcaster could incur advertisement revenue losses which could be anything in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore for a marquee game whose 10 second commercial slot can cost up to Rs 40 lakh.
While a walkover would hand full points to India, the ICC retains the authority to impose financial penalties on the PCB.
To get a walkover, the opposition team needs to be present on the ground for the coin toss.
The Indian team will therefore travel to Sri Lanka and Suryakumar Yadav will be walking out for the toss. Once Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha doesn't appear, the match referee will award a walkover and two points to India.
There could also be a host of sanctions awaiting Pakistan, including docking of WTC points, no movement in ICC rankings, top member nations refusing to travel there and last but not the least -- sanctions on participation of players in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Pakistan are scheduled to open their campaign against the Netherlands on February 7, followed by matches against USA on February 10 and Namibia on February 18. All their matches will be played at the SSC ground in Colombo.
