Voter data theft: ECI probe finds BBMP provided illegal, undue favors to a private trust Chilume
Media claims "no fraud, violation found" while probe finds connection between Chilume, BJP Minister
Bengaluru: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has conducted an investigation into large-scale voter data theft in Bengaluru, which was initially exposed by digital platforms The News Minute (TNM) and Pratidvani five months ago. The probe, conducted by Amlan Aditya Biswas, Regional Commissioner, Bengaluru Division, has substantiated TNM's findings, revealing that officers of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) provided illegal and undue favors to a private trust called Chilume, allowing it to collect voter data and even attempted to subvert a complaint against the trust.
The ECI's investigation has also discovered a connection between Chilume and BJP Minister CN Ashwathnarayan, as well as Hombale Films, a major production house in Bengaluru known for two of the highest-grossing Kannada films of all time KGF and Kantara.
However, the location of the data collected by Chilume remains unclear, with the probe report suggesting that it could be stored on foreign servers, potentially Chinese or Eastern European, in violation of ECI regulations.
Some of the media reports however have reported that the probe did not find any fraud or data violation.
One of the major English Newspapers has asserted “The investigation into the alleged voter data theft by Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust has ruled out any electoral fraud or manipulation of electoral roll in the three constituencies — Shivajinagar, Chikpete, and Mahadevapura — where the data was collected.”
“As directed by the ECI, a comprehensive verification of the purity of the Electoral Rolls was taken up in Mahadevapura, Shivajinagar, and Chikpete. No electoral fraud or manipulation of electoral roll is detected in the three constituencies,” it added.
Here’s what the probe actually says:
In November 2022, TNM and Kannada digital platform Pratidvani jointly exposed the large-scale voter data theft in Bengaluru by the Chilume Trust. The private trust, founded by Ravikumar Krishnappa, collected voter data by deploying field agents who pretended to be election officials. The voter data theft was made possible by government orders that allowed the private trust to 'create awareness' about voter rights.
Samanvaya Trust, an NGO, filed a complaint against Chilume Trust, alleging that it was misusing the terms of its agreement with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The complaint accused Chilume of issuing fake cards to its field workers, identifying them as Booth Level Officers (BLO) or Booth Level Coordinators (BLC).
According to the investigation report by TNM and Pratidvani, a complaint was filed against Chilume Trust on September 20, 2022, for misusing the terms of its agreement with the BBMP. However, the BBMP Commissioner, Tushar Giri Nath, who is also the District Election Officer (DEO), was kept unaware of the complaint by the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) Programme Nodal officer and Rangappa, Special Commissioner, Election, BBMP. It was only at the end of October 2022, that Tushar learned of the complaint against Chilume.
As per the findings of the probe conducted by Amlan Biswas, founder of Chilume Ravikumar Krishnappa put pressure on the complainant to retract the complaint on November 3. During this period, Krishnappa also met with Special Commissioner, Election Rangappa, raising questions about the IAS officer’s role in facilitating Chilume’s illegal voter data collection.
Apart from Rangappa, the probe indicted four electoral registration officers (EROs) in Bengaluru – in Mahadevapura, Chickpet, Shivajinagar, and RR Nagar – for issuing fake BLO cards to Chilume’s field workers. “There not only was a dereliction of duty by the EROs but also gross misuse of office and deliberate attempt to enable a private organization to directly have access to voters,” read the report by Amlan Biswas.
As per the probe, it was found that the Election Registration Officer (ERO) of KR Puram had shared lists of young voters with their phone numbers with Chilume in January 2019. The report stated that this act in itself was a serious violation of procedure. Earlier, TNM had reported that Nandiesha Reddy, BJP's candidate from KR Puram constituency in Bengaluru during the 2018 state Assembly elections, had paid Rs 17.5 lakh to Chilume for conducting a voter survey. When questioned, Nandiesha admitted to paying the amount to Chilume.
According to a probe conducted in the wake of an exposé by TNM and Pratidvani, Chilume Trust, which was accused of covertly collecting voter data of Bengaluru citizens, had made transactions with Hombale Films and a foundation run by Minister Ashwathnarayan.
Vijay T Kiragandur, Director of Hombale Films, is Ashwathnarayan's cousin. The probe found that in July 2016, a bank account linked to Chilume founder Ravikumar paid Ashwathnarayan’s foundation Rs 15,000.
Additionally, Hombale Films and Rajdharma Analytica, which are part of the Hombale Group, paid Chilume Rs 10.5 lakh and Rs 5.9 lakh respectively. While the invoices mention that the payments were for “manpower for film promotion,” the dates of the payments were not specified.
The Congress had held a press conference in November 2022, when TNM first published the investigation, accusing Ashwathnarayan of giving political patronage to Ravikumar, with many pictures of the duo surfacing at that time.
The probe found that Chilume’s field workers uploaded the data collected from voters onto a private mobile application – Digital Sameeksha, which Chilume proclaimed to be a replacement for the Election Commission’s voter registration applications like Garuda and Voter Helpline App. “The data already entered on the App is allegedly available on a foreign (possibly Chinese or East European) server and requests for handover from police are pending,” read Amlan Biswas’s report.
“While this also underlines that the ECI’s apps themselves have not been breached, it is a no-brainer to conclude that shifting to private BLOs by BBMP officials has jeopardized the election data collection process as the efficacy of any app is limited to its users,” the report added.
The probe has found training videos on YouTube which specified the data collected by Chilume’s field workers in its door-to-door exercise. “The App has booth level data, Forms 6, 7, 8, and a separate online form for personal details (including mobile number, Aadhaar card, Voter ID, address, type of accommodation, economic status, caste, sub-caste, and mother tongue besides sections on political opinion and voting inclination) built into it as seen from the training video screenshots,” read the report.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
