Congress delegation meets CEC, seeks action against 'voter fraud' in Karnataka
New Delhi, Nov 23: The Congress on Wednesday petitioned the Election Commission, demanding a detailed investigation into what it described as a "voter information theft fraud" in Karnataka under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The party alleged that 27 lakh names had been deleted and 11 lakh voters added in the voters list, especially in Bengaluru, with "political patronage".
A delegation led by AICC general secretary in-charge of the party's affairs in Karnataka Randeep Surjewala and KPCC chief D K Shivakumar met the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissoners and handed over a memorandum.
Surjewala later told reporters that the EC gave them a patient hearing for over an hour and assured of strict action against those behind the voter information theft.
"The EC has taken note of all complaints and assured us that it will carry out a detailed investigation...and anyone found guilty in the scam will be dealt with sternly...," he told reporters after the meeting.
Surjewala said a deputy election commissioner has already been sent to Karnataka to probe the issue and the EC has lodged an FIR.
The EC has told the Congress leaders that action against some officials has been taken and more action is being initiated, he claimed.
"We are confident that this conspiracy to steal voter data of Karnataka people would be investigated thoroughly by the EC and stern steps taken to book the guilty," he said.
Surjewala said the delegation brought to the notice of the CEC and other ECs that a private company had taken voter data by impersonating as government employees.
"Employees of a private company are posing as booth level officers of EC and this proves that a data theft has taken place. This amounts to criminal conspiracy. As many as 27 lakh voters have been deleted and 11 lakh voters added in the voters list. Constituencies have been targeted to add votes in order to affect the election outcomes.
"The EC has assured to clean the voter lists and will not allow any deletion or addition of voters and has already lodged an FIR," the Congress leader said.
Karnataka goes to polls later next year and the Congress is seeking to wrest power back from the BJP.
"Massive addition and deletion in voter list in Bengaluru and Karnataka indicate rigging and fraud. This smacks of an apparent and serious fraud being played out under political patronage," it alleged.
The Congress said the "abnormally high number of additions and deletions" reflects that almost all constituencies of Bengaluru and certain constituencies outside the state capital were targeted.
"It goes without saying that this can only be done by and at the behest of the ruling party, i.e. the BJP. This is a blatant electoral fraud on democracy itself," the party alleged.
It termed it to be a case of "identity theft, theft of private user data, dishonest misappropriation of property, concealment and misuse of stolen property, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy".
"This is also a brazen fraud on our democratic process as votes are being added and subtracted to achieve a political outcome in favour of the ruling party," it said.
"We request an urgent investigation to be initiated by this commission...The ECI must also initiate criminal law and ensure the registeration of an FIR against Shri Basavaraj Bommai, officials and employees of the BBMP and the state government involved in the scam and the officials of the private entities and NGOs who have committed the fraud under political patronage," the memorandum said.
#VoteGate ಹಗರಣ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಇಂದು AICC ಪ್ರಧಾನ ಕಾರ್ಯದರ್ಶಿ ಶ್ರೀ @RSSurjewala ಅವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ದಿಲ್ಲಿಯ EC ಕಚೇರಿಗೆ ದೂರು ನೀಡಲಾಯಿತು. ಮಾತು ಕೊಟ್ಟು ವಂಚಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ BJP ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಜನರ ಮತದಾನದ ಹಕ್ಕನ್ನು ಕಸಿಯುವ ಹೀನ ಕೃತ್ಯ ಎಸಗಿದೆ. ಹೋರಾಟವು ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರ ರಕ್ತದಲ್ಲಿ ಹರಿಯುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೂ "ತಗ್ಗೋದೇ ಇಲ್ಲ".
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) November 23, 2022
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Bomb threat emails received by multiple district collectorates in UP, turn out to be hoax
Lucknow, Apr 15 (PTI): Emails claiming that bombs were planted in four district collectorate offices in Uttar Pradesh triggered a security alert on Tuesday, but nothing suspicious was found after the buildings were evacuated and extensively searched.
Soon after the emails were received by authorities in Firozabad, Aligarh, Barabanki and Chandauli, bomb disposal units, anti-sabotage checking teams, dog squads and local police were swiftly mobilised to the respective collectorate premises. All buildings were evacuated and thoroughly searched, officials said.
Authorities in all four districts said that no explosives or suspicious items were found.
Investigations are on to identify those responsible for sending the hoax emails, they added.
In Aligarh, a senior police officer told reporters, "Soon after the email was received, security forces reached the District Magistrate's office and evacuated the premises. A thorough inspection of the entire complex was conducted. While no suspicious items were found, the inspection is still ongoing as a precaution."
The official added that the threatening email was received on the official email ID of the Aligarh District Magistrate.
In Barabanki, District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi said, "Today, we received a threatening email on the official ID, claiming that explosives like RDX were planted in the collectorate campus.
"Though the information did not initially seem credible, we immediately alerted the Superintendent of Police and called in the bomb disposal squad, which carried out a thorough search. No suspicious object has been found so far. Efforts are underway to trace the source of the email."
Barabanki City Circle Officer Sumit Tripathi said the origin and authenticity of the email remain unclear.
"Investigations are ongoing to determine whether this was a mischief attempt or part of a larger conspiracy," he said.
In Chandauli, District Magistrate Nikhil Tikaram Funde said a person identifying himself as Gopal Swami had sent an email warning of a possible bomb blast at the collectorate, allegedly linked to political issues in Tamil Nadu.
"The sender even listed a Tamil Nadu address. We immediately alerted the Superintendent of Police and launched a complete search of the collectorate premises. Nothing suspicious was found. The email content appeared frivolous and lacked credibility, but we still acted with full caution," the DM said.
In Firozabad, a similar threat was received via email around Tuesday afternoon, stating that explosive material had been placed in the District Magistrate's office.
Superintendent of Police (City) Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "Upon receiving the email, a bomb disposal team, dog squad, local police from Matsena police station, and the SOG team carried out an intensive search of the premises. No explosives were found."
A case has been registered at the cyber police station based on a complaint by the Matsena SHO, and authorities are working to trace the sender of the email.
