'Vote theft' case: Burnt voter records found near Ex-BJP MLA Guttedar’s house in Aland
Kalaburagi (PTI): Heaps of burnt voter records were found near former BJP MLA Subhash Guttedar’s residence in the district on Saturday as the SIT intensified its probe into alleged 'vote theft' in the Aland assembly segment during the 2023 assembly elections.
Guttedar said there was nothing suspicious about the burnt voter records, blaming his housekeeping staff.
“As part of the cleanliness drive ahead of the festival, our staff threw it outside and burnt it. If we had some malicious intention, then we would have preferred burning it away from our house. Why would anyone do it in front of the house? There were no ulterior motives behind it,” he told reporters here today.
The SIT had on Friday raided several locations linked to Guttedar, his sons, and a chartered accountant, sources said.
The SIT was formed after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged large-scale 'vote theft'. To support his claim, he cited the Aland constituency during the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections.
The Congress has alleged that fraudulent phone calls were made on behalf of some genuine voters to delete "Congress voters" from the rolls.
Congress leaders claimed that the timely detection of the fraud led to the victory of their candidate B R Patil, and the defeat of the BJP candidate, Subhash Guttedar.
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Power tariffs under BESCOM to rise from May 1
Bengaluru (PTI): Power bills for consumers under the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) will go up from May 1, following an order issued by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on Friday.
The hike comes after KERC allowed the BESCOM to recover a revenue deficit of Rs 2,068 crore incurred in 2024-25, from the consumers.
As a result, for every unit of electricity consumed in 2024-25, the customers will be charged an additional 56 paise, it said.
"BESCOM shall calculate, for each of the active consumers of FY2024-25 the amount to be recovered based on their actual energy consumption during FY2024-25. Such amount shall be recovered during FY 2026-27 in equal monthly instalments, to be called as 'FY25 True up Charges', commencing from the first meter reading date falling on or after 1 May 2026 and concluding with the reading date ending on 30 April 2027," the order said.
"It is further ordered that BESCOM shall maintain a separate head of account, allocated for the purpose, to record the adjustment of the said amount to ensure full recovery of the deficit," it added.
Similarly Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (CESC) has also recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 121.71 crore and can collect an additional 15 paisa per unit for consumption in 2024-25, official sources said.
