State Government using caste census to divert attention from stampede tragedy: BJP Chief Vijayendra
Bengaluru: Karnataka BJP President and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra has accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of indulging in “conspiracy politics” by blaming the Centre for the state’s financial and administrative failures.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Vijayendra said the Chief Minister, while attending the 16th Finance Commission meeting in Delhi, attempted to deflect attention from his government’s inefficiencies by targeting the Union Government. “Although he must be appreciated for representing Karnataka at the meeting, it's unfortunate to see him trying to shift the blame,” Vijayendra said.
He alleged that the state is failing to manage funds for fulfilling its guarantee schemes and is halting developmental work, leading Siddaramaiah to make partial statements such as “Karnataka gets only ₹13 for every ₹100 it gives.” He said the state is not utilising Central grants properly and is even cutting funds for Union Government schemes.
On the issue of caste census, Vijayendra claimed that the Congress-led government is only now talking about it to distract the public from the recent RCB celebration stampede that killed 11 people. “About three months ago, the government faced pressure due to our protests. Siddaramaiah had then promised to implement the Kantharaj Commission report, but even after four or five cabinet meetings, nothing was done,” he said.
He termed the caste census data “unscientific” and said the government was now feigning interest under public pressure. “The Centre has already announced that both population and caste census will be conducted. But the state government has no clarity or commitment on this and is simply trying to create confusion,” he added.
Vijayendra also alleged that a newly formed special squad in Dakshina Kannada district is being used not to curb communal violence, but to target Hindu activists and BJP workers. “We recently visited the district and met with officials. This is nothing but a strategy to intimidate our party workers,” he said.
He concluded by asserting that the Congress government in Karnataka lacks the intent to bring the caste census issue to a logical end and is using it for political gains.
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Rahul Gandhi demands 'clean, pure' voter list; says 'vote theft' issue will explode soon
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New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Opposition is protesting for the right to vote for every Indian and demanded a "clean and pure" voter list, asserting that the issue of alleged irregularities pointed out by him will "explode" soon as it is not related to a single constituency but the whole country.
Indicating that he would not submit a signed affidavit as sought by the Election Commission, Gandhi asserted that the data analysed by the Congress to provide "proof" of "vote theft" is taken from the EC website.
"This is their data. It is not my data that I should sign. It is their data only and has been taken from their website. This is only a move to distract," he told reporters.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, who participated in a protest march by the opposition on the "vote theft" issue, said the Election Commission is "silent" as the truth is before the entire nation after his charge that over one lakh votes in an assembly constituency in Karnataka were found to be fake in a research conducted by his party.
"Another thing I want to tell is that this has not just happened in Bangalore, but in different constituencies across the country, and the Election Commission knows this. The EC knows that this data will explode. What it is trying to control and hide, we will bring it out, and it will explode. The EC knows this," he told reporters.
Gandhi was briefly detained along with others as police stopped the protest march by opposition MPs from Parliament House to the EC office.
"They (EC) cannot talk as the truth is before the entire nation," the Congress leader said as he was being taken away in a bus by the police.
"This fight is not political, but for saving the Constitution," he asserted.
This fight is for 'one man, one vote' and we want a clean, pure voter list," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha added.
He said all the MPs of the INDIA alliance were stopped and taken into custody when they were going to meet the Election Commission.
"The truth of 'vote theft' is now before the country. This fight is not political; it is a fight to protect democracy, the Constitution, and the right to ‘one person, one vote’.
"The united opposition and every voter in the country demand a clean and transparent voter list. And, we will secure this right at all costs," Gandhi claimed in a post on X later.
Gandhi had on Thursday cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to claim that over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" through five types of manipulation in Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka. He alleged there were 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single-address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6 of new voters.
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