BJP slams Karnataka govt for ballot paper move; says Congress ''self-certifies vote theft''
Bengaluru (PTI): Taking a swipe at the Congress government in Karnataka, the opposition BJP on Friday claimed the state cabinet’s decision to use ballot papers instead of EVMs in the next local body polls amounted to "self-certifying" that the ruling party came to power through "vote theft."
Urging the 136 Congress MLAs elected in the 2023 Assembly polls and the nine Congress MPs from the state to resign first, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra alleged, "Let them win the elections again using ballot paper, or accept that they came to power through vote theft."
The Congress government on Thursday decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) that all future panchayat and urban local body elections in Karnataka be held using ballot paper instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil had cited "erosion of public confidence and credibility in EVMs as the reason for the cabinet decision."
The cabinet also authorised the SEC to "prepare, revise and, if necessary, redo" the electoral rolls for local body polls, citing discrepancies and allegations of "vote theft."
Vijayendra, in a post on 'X', claimed, "The highest number of illegal voting, complaints of vote theft, incidents of election violence, and complaints about irregularities in the country have been registered in the courts during elections held on ballot papers—and that too against Congressmen."
"The people of the country have not forgotten that Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency due to the court’s verdict in the wake of vote theft and election malpractices by her," he alleged.
Alleging that the Congress, "an expert in vote theft and election malpractices using ballot papers," was in disarray due to continuous electoral defeats, he said Rahul Gandhi was creating a "childish controversy in the name of 'vote theft', putting forward a baseless, immature and twisted argument."
"To support this, the ruling Congress government in the state has decided to conduct elections using ballot papers," he added.
"While the entire country and the world are moving rapidly based on technology, the Congress government in Karnataka is insulting technology," he claimed.
According to Vijayendra, Congress under Rahul Gandhi supports ballot-based elections only because "electoral irregularities, booth violence and fraudulent voting can be committed without hesitation" through ballot papers.
"The Congress government in Karnataka is going to take the first step to implement it. The Congress’s agenda and goal is to defy the democratic system and transparent elections," he alleged.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
