'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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Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa laid to rest with full state honours
Bengaluru (PTI): Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa was laid to rest with full state honours on Monday.
The 94-year-old former minister, who passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Sunday, was cremated at the Kalleshwara Mill premises, following Veerashaiva-Lingayat traditions.
Earlier in the day, Shivashankarappa's mortal remains were brought to his native Davanagere, where they were kept at the high school grounds for the public, his followers, and well-wishers to pay their last respects.
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Expressing deep sorrow over his demise, the Karnataka government ordered that his last rites be performed with full state honours.
Both the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Council also mourned his passing, adjourning their sessions for the day after paying tributes.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, several ministers, opposition leaders, legislators, and political figures paid their respects.
A number of seers from the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community also attended the last rites.
Shivashankarappa represented the Davanagere South Assembly constituency. He had been undergoing treatment at the hospital for some time before succumbing to age-related ailments.
The senior-most legislator in Karnataka, Shivashankarappa, was also one of the longest-serving lawmakers in the country, sources said.
He is survived by three sons, including S S Mallikarjun, the Karnataka Minister for Mines, Geology, and Horticulture, and four daughters. His daughter-in-law, Prabha Mallikarjun, is the Member of Parliament from Davanagere.
A six-time MLA, Shivashankarappa also served as a minister and an MP.
He was a prominent educationist, establishing several educational institutions, and was an industrialist.
Additionally, he served as the treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for decades and was the president of the All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, the apex body of the influential Veerashaiva-Lingayat community.
