CM Bommai dismisses Congress charge of corrupt electoral practice
Bengaluru, Nov 17: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday dismissed the Congress party's charge of any electoral fraud committed by him in Bengaluru and said he was ready to face enquiry over the matter.
The CM was responding to Congress national general secretary and Karnataka in charge Randeep Surjewala demanding his resignation, alleging he is directly responsible for a corrupt electoral practice by assigning a private entity to collect door-to-door voter information in the city.
Terming it as a baseless charge, Bommai said the opposition Congress has got "bankrupt ideas" due to which it was making such allegations without any proof.
He said he was ready to get the matter investigated.
"What I feel is that the Congress has got bankrupt ideas. It is a matter between the Election Commission of India, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the NGO (concermed)," Bommai said.
He added if the NGO has misused its position, then it will be inquired and action will be taken.
"What is the proof that which private information has been given to whom. There is nothing on paper. It is a baseless allegation. I am really astonished the way Congress is bankrupt with ideas...there is no proof at all," Bommai said.
He said he was ready for an inquiry.
"Let an inquiry be done and the truth come out. We are not shying away from any inquiry. I ask the BBMP commissioner to file a case," the Chief Minister said.
Surjewala had alleged the BBMP authorised a private firm in August this year to carry out a door-to-door survey of voters 'free of cost' and it had gathered details such as their gender and mother tongue, besides collecting voter ID and Aadhaar details.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
