Siddaramaiah defends K'taka govt's decision to revert to old ballot system, asks why BJP fears it
Koppal (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday sought to know why the BJP is afraid of ballot paper, while defending his government's decision to revert to the old system of voting during elections for the local body polls, instead of using the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The Congress government in Karnataka on Thursday decided to recommend to the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold all the future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state using ballot paper, instead of EVMs.
"Have other countries that are using ballot paper gone back to the stone age? Have America and other advanced countries returned to the stone age? Why are they (BJP) afraid of ballot paper?" Siddaramaiah asked.
He was responding to the BJP comparing his government's decision to use ballot paper, to going back to "stone age".
Addressing reporters here, he said, "Statements that we will go back to the stone age by using ballot paper is not right."
"We are saying from our experience that a lot of injustice is happening (in polls). There are issues with the voters' list, Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader) is fighting against it in Bihar, where assembly elections are scheduled to take place. He (Gandhi) had explained how the Congress lost in Mahadevapura assembly segment (in Bengaluru)," he added.
The government has cited erosion of confidence and credibility among people towards EVMs as the reason for the decision to go back to ballot paper.
The Cabinet has also decided to authorise the state election commission to "prepare, revise and if necessary redo" the electoral rolls for local body polls, citing discrepancies in electoral rolls and allegations of "vote theft".
After its loss in the Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, the Congress has expressed doubts over the EVM’s infallibility and the election outcome. It has demanded a return to the paper ballot.
Amid the row over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently alleged that elections are being "stolen" in India and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of "votes theft" by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which had resulted in a huge political controversy.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
