Victory for voters across the country: Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said the Election Commission of India’s direction to electoral authorities in all states to undertake a special campaign to reverify electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and include eligible voters whose names were left out was a victory for the voting rights of people across the country. He was speaking to the media near Vidhana Soudha on Friday.“We welcome the order issued by the Election Commission of India overnight following our protest in front of the State Election Commission yesterday. This is not merely a victory for the Congress party or the government. It is a victory for voters of Karnataka and the entire country. It is a victory against the conspiracy to deprive eligible voters of their rights. The Congress has been fighting for the protection of voting rights from the beginning and will continue to do so,” he said.

He said the Election Commission had issued directions to the Chief Electoral Officers of all states following the Congress protest on Thursday, including instructions to look into complaints regarding the mass deletion of names from electoral rolls.

“The Election Commission has stated that no vote should be deleted through Form 7. Special camps should be organised to enrol young people who are becoming voters for the first time. Chief Electoral Officers and District Electoral Officers have been directed to ensure this. Detailed instructions have also been issued on the responsibilities of Booth Level Officers and the procedures for Forms 6 and 7,” Shivakumar said.

He said booth-level camps should be organised to facilitate the submission of applications. Special camps should also be held for people living in night shelters, labourers and homeless persons, he added.

Shivakumar alleged that BJP workers had submitted applications seeking the deletion of votes belonging to weaker sections of society. “This is shameful. They are doing this to create a divide among communities, castes and religions. Their intention is to get the votes of Dalits and minorities deleted. Such people are unfit to be in

politics,” he said.

Asked about the BJP’s protest before the Election Commission, Shivakumar said, “The BJP should be ashamed of holding a protest. They themselves have admitted that around 25,000 applications were submitted. This is shameful. They have admitted to the crime and conspiracy they have committed. The Election Commission should immediately register a complaint against the BJP at the national level.

Action should also be taken against those who shared these records, as they have already admitted to it.” He alleged that the BJP could have faced elections by winning the hearts of the people instead of seeking to delete votes. Referring to Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “Mahatma Gandhi once said that if you want to control yourself, use your brain, and if you want to control others, use your heart. They could have won the hearts of the people and faced the elections. Instead, they have resorted to the criminal act of deleting votes.”

Shivakumar said that after learning about the alleged irregularities, he had constituted a special team in addition to Congress workers. “A Citizens Forum and activists travelled across the state, collected data and submitted a report. I also verified it through my own sources. I am a grassroots politician,” he said.

“I am very happy that the BJP is holding a protest. They are doing a good job. They seem to think that all of us are working with our eyes covered. The media should protect the rights of ordinary people in this country. This issue should be debated on a large scale at the national level,” Shivakumar said. This keeps the allegations and political claims as statements made by the Chief Minister, rather than presenting them as independently established facts

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