Three days before Karnataka Assembly election 2018, a 'fake' voter ID row has erupted in the poll-bound state, with BJP and Congress accusing each other of involvement. Catch all the update here
Just three days before Karnataka Assembly election 2018, the Election Commission of Karnataka on Tuesday confirmed that its officials recovered 9,746 Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) from an apartment in Bengaluru's Jalahalli area of the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency. Reacting to the development, the BJP demanded cancellation of polling in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, accusing the Congress of trying to "rig" the polls. Congress hit back, saying that a BJP leader was the owner of the Bengaluru flat from where the 'fake' voter cards had been found.
The development came hours after former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced off against each other while campaigning in Karnataka. The prime minister and the UPA chairperson attacked each other with stinging barbs, with Modi accusing Gandhi and her son (Congress President) Rahul Gandhi of destroying Congress to save the "dynasty", and Gandhi saying Modi's speeches alone could not "fill empty stomachs".
Polling in the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 will be held on May 12 and the results will be out on May 15.
Here are the top 10 developments around the 'fake' voter id issue in Karnataka and the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign:
1) Nearly 10,000 voter IDs seized from a Bengaluru flat: The Election Commission of Karnataka on Tuesday confirmed that they recovered 9,746 electors photo identity cards from an apartment in Bengaluru's Jalahalli area, which falls under the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency. In a midnight briefing on Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer for Karnataka Sanjiv Kumar said that according to the preliminary verification, the ID cards were of actual electors and appeared to be prima facie genuine.
According to the state election commission, the voter ID cards were kept neatly in small bundles that were wrapped in paper, with some names and phone numbers on the paper.
The recovery was made during a surprise visit to Parkview apartment in Jalahalli area, which belongs to Manjula Nanjamuri and was allegedly rented to a person named Rakesh.
Apart from the IDs, five laptops, one printer, and two large steel trunks with counterfoil strips resembling acknowledgement slips of Form 6 used for addition of names onto the electoral rolls were also recovered from the apartment during the raid. Kumar added that the significance of the counterfoils can only be verified after due investigation.
"These may be numbering around a lakh. There is a need for further verification and inquiry. These have photographs and a printed number in magenta colour which is different than the officially available Form 6 which has no printed number," Kumar said.
The state election commission added that an FIR has been registered in the matter and further investigations will be conducted on the same. It further assured that in the next 24 hours, when more information is available, firm action will be taken.
Read the previous day's developments in the Karnataka Assembly election 2018 campaign: Karnataka election: Modi besotted with Congress-free India, says Sonia
2) BJP demands countermanding of polls in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar constituency, blames Congress for 'fake' voter IDs: After the state EC's announcement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday night demanded that elections in the Raj Rajeshwari Nagar constituency of Karanataka be countermanded in the light of the revelation of seizure of 'fake' voter IDs.
Speaking to media over the matter, BJP leader and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Congress is losing public support and they are trying hard to rig the upcoming elections in Karnataka by undemocratic ways. So, we demand countermanding of polls in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency."
3) Congress says the owner of the Bengaluru flat from where voter cards were found is a BJP leader: The Congress Party refuted the 'fake' voter ID cards allegation leveled against it by the BJP and alleged that the flat from where the documents were recovered belonged to a BJP leader. Addressing the media, Congress spokesperson in-charge Randeep Surjewala claimed that Manjula Nanjamuri, who owned the flat from where the identity cards were recovered, is a BJP leader and an ex-corporator.
He alleged that Nanjamuri rented her own flat to her son Rakesh, who contested an earlier corporation election on a BJP ticket in 2015. "The BJP enacted this drama in an apartment belonging to their own leader, Manjula Nanjamari. She has rented the apartment to her son who contested the 2015 BBMP elections on a BJP ticket," Surjewala said.
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