Shobha Karandlaje alleges KSEC's poll revision to 'please Rahul'

Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje alleged that the KSEC is conducting a 'parallel' electoral roll revision in GBA areas to 'please Rahul Gandhi'. She accused the Congress govt of adding illegal immigrants and demanded a fresh statewide revision.

Karandlaje alleges parallel voter revision to 'please Rahul Gandhi'

Union Minister of State Shobha Karandlaje on Friday alleged that the Karnataka State Election Commission (KSEC) was conducting a "parallel" Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in areas under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to "please Rahul Gandhi" and demanded a fresh revision of the voter list in the state.

Karandlaje said she had written two letters, including one to the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking immediate intervention against the electoral roll revision being undertaken by the KSEC in Assembly constituencies falling under the GBA. "I have written two letters. There are two SIRs in 27 wards under GBA. Why is the State Election Commission also conducting SIR here? The State Election Commission is conducting SIR in three areas under GBA, which is being fought by the State Election Commission to please Rahul Gandhi," she alleged.

She said the SIR was aimed at removing illegal immigrants, deceased persons and ineligible voters from the electoral rolls. "This SIR is being conducted after 20 years. Illegal immigrants, deceased and those who are not here are being removed from the voter list to clean the voter list. Others are discussing a lot about Bengaluru. They say that only 50 per cent of the voters vote," she said.

Allegations of including illegal immigrants in voter list

Karandlaje alleged that the Karnataka government was attempting to prepare a fresh "illegal" voter list and accused Congress leaders of facilitating the inclusion of illegal immigrants in the electoral rolls. "The state government is going to prepare an illegal voter list again. Your officials are illegally adding illegal voters to the list. Congress leaders have made Bangladeshis citizens here. On the Chief Minister's verbal orders, illegal immigrants are being made voters here. BLOs are being stationed in mosques and illegal names are being included in the voter list. The Election Commission's instructions are being violated," she alleged.

She further alleged that birth certificates and permanent resident certificates were being issued illegally to facilitate the inclusion of illegal immigrants in the electoral rolls. "You are giving birth certificates illegally in several cyber centres in Karnataka. You have announced that you will give permanent resident certificates to those born in the state of Karnataka. We have all the documents here. So, to whom were you going to give this residential certificate? You have brought this residential certificate to make voters of those who came from Bangladesh. To win the next election, you are going to bring this certificate to the Bangladeshis," she alleged.

Demand for fresh statewide revision

Demanding a fresh Special Intensive Revision in Karnataka, Karandlaje said the state's electoral rolls should be revised on the lines of Bihar. "A new SIR review should be done in Karnataka. A review should be done here again. Voter lists should be prepared like what was done in Bihar and West Bengal," she said.

Concerns raised with Election Commission of India

Earlier, in her letter dated July 3, Karandlaje said that the Election Commission of India had already commenced the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across Karnataka under its notified schedule and constitutional mandate. "It has come to my notice that, notwithstanding the ongoing statewide Special Intensive Revision undertaken by the Election Commission of India, the Karnataka State Election Commission has initiated a separate and parallel Special Intensive Revision process... with independent timelines and different cut-off dates," she wrote.

The Union Minister argued that the parallel exercise could "create confusion among electors, political parties and election officials" and lead to inconsistencies in electoral rolls, thereby affecting the integrity of the electoral process.

The minister requested the ECI to direct the Karnataka State Election Commission to refrain from conducting any parallel revision of Assembly electoral rolls and instead adopt the electoral rolls finalised by the ECI for local body elections in accordance with the constitutional framework. (ANI)

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