'Vote chori' an attack on very idea of India: Siddaramaiah
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting the ruling BJP at the Centre for the alleged 'vote chori' (vote theft), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said, fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections.
Terming vote chori as an attack on the very idea of India, he said, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filing a charge sheet naming a former BJP MLA, his son, and others in Aland constituency in Karnataka, for alleged attempt to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names, makes a significant legal step.
The chief minister was speaking at the Congress' mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, against the vote chori.
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"History teaches us that fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections," Siddaramaiah said.
Authoritarian regimes around the world use one core tactic, which is rigging the democratic process while pretending to protect it. This is exactly what the BJP is doing today, he alleged.
"They capture institutions. They intimidate election machinery. They distort voter lists. They suppress turnout in Opposition areas. They violate the level playing field through money and power," he said, adding that "this is not just malpractice. This is vote chori which is an attack on the very idea of India."
Stating that a government born out of "stolen votes" is not a democratic government, the CM said, it is a government that fears the people, manipulates the mandate, and survives only through deceit.
"This is precisely how democracies decline into electoral autocracies. Today BJP's vote chori is the biggest threat to the republic since independence," he said.
Noting that, in these dark times, one leader has stood up with extraordinary courage, and that is Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said the Congress leader investigated and exposed mismatched voter lists, booth-level manipulation, and patterns that pointed to systematic, organised vote chori.
"In constituency after constituency, from Mahadevapura to Aland, from Haryana to Bihar, he revealed how votes were suppressed, shifted, or diluted, especially in areas that stood with the Congress and INDIA bloc," he said.
The CM pointed out that in Karnataka itself, in the Mahadevapura and Aland assembly segments, serious irregularities were raised by Rahul Gandhi as examples of how vote chori is not an abstract allegation but a lived reality on the ground.
In Mahadevapura, evidence was presented showing thousands of duplicate or fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in the electoral rolls that correlated with the BJP's narrow edge in the constituency, he said.
In Aland, thousands of attempted deletions of legitimate voters were recorded ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls, including an alleged 6,018 applications for deletions, prompting an FIR and SIT investigation, Siddaramaiah further pointed out.
"A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a charge sheet naming seven individuals, including a former BJP MLA and his son, for allegedly attempting to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names from the rolls in Aland constituency, marking a significant legal step in the fight against vote chori," he added.
Highlighting that these exposes shows that Rahul Gandhi has become the moral compass of this republic and a crusader against the vote chori, the CM said, his fight is rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought, and the foundational democratic principle that sovereignty belongs to the people, not to a party, not to a regime, and certainly not to those who are willing to steal elections.
"When a young woman waits in line for hours to vote and later finds that her vote has been deleted, she feels cheated. When an elderly farmer wakes up at dawn to cast his vote but finds his name missing, he feels betrayed," he added.
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According to Siddaramaiah, the vote chori is not just about numbers, it is about dignity, it is about equality, and it is about the soul of our republic.
"We must demand: transparent electoral rolls, accountability of election authorities, independent institutions, a voting system people can trust, and a political culture rooted in constitutional values, and we must declare together that -- We will not allow fascism to enter India through the backdoor of vote chori," he said.
Let us rise as one nation, one people, one democracy. Let history record that when the vote chori threatened India, the people stood up, and the people won, he added.
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Bombay HC to form high-powered committee on Mumbai air pollution
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Thursday said it would form a high-powered committee to oversee the compliance of measures to tackle air pollution in the Mumbai region, noting that the efforts taken so far by state and civic authorities are insufficient.
It was not criticizing anyone but wanted to ensure that "people should live in pure air," said a division bench led by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar.
The HC had in October 2023 taken suo motu cognizance of the rising pollution in the metropolis "which was ranging between good, satisfactory, moderate poor, very poor and severe", the bench noted.
Directions were issued by the court on November 6, 2023, and suggestions were made for short-term, mid-term and long-term measures.
Since then, the HC has made observations expressing dissatisfaction about the steps taken by the Mumbai and Navi Mumbai civic bodies, the judges said.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) is simply "sailing on its affidavits," but the steps purportedly taken by it were not sufficient, the court stated.
Air pollution in Mumbai has not decreased, in fact it was reported to be very severe in December, said the judges.
"We have apprised ourselves of the previous orders, and find that compliances so far made by (municipal) corporations and MPCB are not sufficient and satisfactory," the court said.
The authorities might have taken serious steps but their results were not visible, it added.
The court expressed inability to examine all the affidavits filed by the municipal corporations and MPCB and reports submitted by an expert committee (formed in 2023), citing the "rising number of dockets and limited hours and time."
After hearing all the parties at length, the high court decided to form a high-powered committee led by a former Supreme Court judge to monitor the compliance of measures to tackle air pollution in Mumbai and the surrounding areas.
The committee should meet on a daily basis, the court said, adding that its members should be provided necessary facilities.
The bench also referred to a suggestion that the citizens affected by pollution should be compensated.
The lawyer for the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation said there are existing statutory bodies to look into this aspect.
"Maybe there are statutory bodies formed in Maharashtra, but then we have not come across any suggestion or action taken by such a body in the present proceedings..." the court said, adding that it was inclined to give "some powers" to the committee.
The court is expected to finalize the names of the committee members in its written order.
