Siddaramaiah demands HC Chief Justice monitored probe into 'voter data theft'
Bengaluru, Nov 18: The Congress on Friday demanded that the BJP government in Karnataka order a High Court Chief Justice monitored judicial probe to expose what it called 'Operation Voter' scam.
The opposition party on Thursday alleged "theft" of voter data in Bengaluru and breach of privacy.
An FIR has been registered against NGO 'Chilume Trust' and one of its employees.
The Congress alleged that the private agency was granted permission for house-to-house survey to create awareness among voters on filing online applications and charged it with collecting their personal data presenting themselves as booth-level officers (BLOs).
Siddaramaiah, leader of Opposition in the Assembly and former Chief Minister, sought to know "whether the BJP government is trying to save its corrupt ministers by framing an agent".
In a series of tweets, he charged the government with betraying people by allegedly "stealing the voter information and illegally collecting their personal data".
"Bengaluru police have registered a case against an agent named Lokesh, who just works with Chilume for a salary of Rs 20,000, in the #OperationVoter scam. Is this 40% @BSBommai Sarkara trying to save their corrupt ministers by making ordinary employee a scape goat?," Siddaramaiah asked.
He said, "We demand High Court Chief Justice monitored Judicial probe to expose the real culprits behind #OperationVoter scam. Why is the govt afraid of initiating a judicial probe? Why is @BSBommai in a hurry to brush the case off?"
"It is a blot on the democracy as BJP infringes upon the privacy of innocent people. @BSBommai & his cabinet should resign for cheating people," the Congress stalwart said.
The Congress has accused the government of being responsible for the "corrupt electoral practice" by assigning a private entity Chilume Trust to collect door-to-door voter information.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has dismissed the charges saying that the "Congress is bankrupt with ideas due to which it is making baseless charges without any proof".
We demand High Court Chief Justice monitored Judicial probe to expose the real culprits behind #OperationVoter scam.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 18, 2022
Why is the govt afraid of initiating a judicial probe?
Why is @BSBommai in a hurry to brush the case off?
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
2001 Parliament attack anniversary: Vice Prez, PM Modi, MPs pay tributes to fallen heroes
New Delhi (PTI): Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Saturday led Parliamentarians in paying floral tributes to those who died fending off terrorists who attacked the Parliament House in 2001.
On the 24th anniversary of the attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Radhakrishnan, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chair, were among the first to offer tributes.
A brief function is held outside the now old Parliament building (Samvidhan Sadan) every December 13 to mark the day.
CISF personnel presented a salute or "samman guard" at the venue, after which a moment of silence was observed to mark the anniversary. Till 2023, the CRPF used to offer 'salami shastra' (present arms).
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a senior party leader, were also present at the event. Union ministers Kiren Rijiju, Jitendra Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal also lined up to offer flower petals at the photographs of the personnel who went down foiling the attack.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is in Latur to attend the funeral of former speaker of the Lower House of Parliament and ex-Union minister Shivraj Patil.
The attack was carried out by five armed terrorists, but personnel from the now former Parliament Security Service, CRPF and Delhi Police foiled the attack, with no terrorist being able to enter the building.
Six Delhi Police personnel, two Parliament Security Service personnel, a gardener and a TV video journalist were killed in the attack. All five terrorists were gunned down in the forecourt of the then Parliament building.
