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Bengaluru, Aug 19: Amid speculations that Congress was looking at inducting leaders from other parties in Karnataka, ahead of Lok Sabha polls, BJP leader C T Ravi on Saturday warned the ruling party of a strong retaliation.

The former BJP national general secretary advised the Congress to focus on giving good administration as it has full majority in the Assembly, and not to indulge in any misadventure.

''I want to tell Congress people --you won in the election, you got 135 seats, also independents are supporting your government, so focus on giving good administration. Leaving that if you try to do too much, we know how to do Operation Hasta-- the hand, which is Congress' symbol-- (like Operation Lotus). If we do it, you know what will be the consequence,'' Ravi said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said Congress need not worry about numbers as it has a clear majority, despite that if it tries to play too much, the situation will be bad, and advised the ruling party not to bring itself to such a situation.

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''You (Congress) have a clear majority, give good administration for which the people have voted to power, instead of that if you try to do something unnecessary, we are not the sort of people who will remain silent, and if we do something -- I can say this much -- you will not be able to raise or get up -- if they (Congress) cross limits it is not right for me to say what we will do, but one can touch and feel it,'' he said.

There have been speculation in political and media circles in the state that few leaders and sitting MLAs from the opposition -- especially the BJP, who had earlier quit the Congress, leading to the collapse of the then Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019 -- will be rejoining the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

State Congress president and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's statement on Wednesday that several political workers were willing to join the party, and a decision will be taken keeping in mind party interest and aimed at increasing the votes share in Lok Sabha polls, has added to the speculations.

Pointing out that after 2018 Assembly polls, BJP had got 104 seats and no party had got a clear majority, Ravi trying to defend defections of Congress-JD(S) MLAs to BJP in 2019 said, ''Congress-JD(S) tried to run a coalition government but within three months, situation had turned to worst between the alliance partners, and they also lost Lok Sabha polls despite a joint contest.'' ''As there was a sense of uncertainty and anarchy, they (Congress and JDS MLAs) felt BJP was an alternative and came out,'' he said, noting that the situation is not similar now, as Congress has a clear majority.

Asserting that no one will quit BJP and go, Ravi said Congress is not in a position to keep its own senior leaders in good terms, and everything is not good within the ruling party.

''I don't think anyone will go...despite that if Congress tries to do something excessively, we know how to save our party and respond politically,'' he added.

 

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Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.

The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.

In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.

The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.

Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.

Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.

The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."

Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.

In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.

The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.

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