TRS owes explanation for imposing election: Amit Shah
Hyderabad, Sep 15 : BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday said the TRS owes an explanation to the people for imposing additional poll expenditure on Telangana by going for early elections to the state Assembly.
He wanted to know why the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) imposed early polls on the state when Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are slated to be held nine months later.
Shah, who arrived here to launch the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll campaign, told a news conference that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had initially supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's idea of "one nation one election" but he was surprised when he suddenly changed his stand.
"Rao and TRS have forced a small state to bear expenditure of two elections. BJP believes that TRS has put an additional burden of crores of rupees on people to further its political interests," said the BJP chief.
Shah, who will be addressing a public meeting at Mahabubnagar on Saturday evening to kick off the party's campaign, said that the BJP was ready to give a tough fight to both TRS and opposition Congress in every constituency.
He was confident that the BJP will emerge as a strong and decisive force in the state. Shah said there were no chances of TRS getting a fresh mandate.
"If the TRS government comes back to power, it will continue its politics of appeasement," he said slamming it for passing a resolution to provide 12 per cent reservation to Muslims and sending it to the Centre for its approval."
Shah denied reports that BJP was hand-in-glove with TRS and alleged that it was the TRS and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) which were engaged in "shadow boxing".
The BJP leader ruled out any any alliance with TRS. Replying to a query, he said Modi's praise of Rao during his speech in Parliament was in a different context and it cannot be interpreted as an understanding between the two parties.
Claiming that the Modi government provided Rs.2.3 lakh crore to Telangana during last four years against Rs 15,000 crore given during Congress rule, Shah said the BJP showed no discrimination towards any state but was opposed to politics of appeasement.
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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.
