Congress alleges IT Minister Ashwath Narayan and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath's involvement in privacy breach of voter details.
Published Nov 17, 2022 | 3:09 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 17, 2022 | 3:09 PM
AICC General Secretary, Karnataka In-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala addressing the media at KPCC office in Bengaluru on Thursday. (PC: Supplied)
The Congress in Karnataka on Thursday, 17 November, demanded the resignation and arrest of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, alleging he was party to massive electoral fraud.
The Opposition party also trained guns at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Tushar Girinath, a day after two news portals, Pratidhvani and The News Minute exposed an NGO impersonating government officials and collecting sensitive voter data from citizens.
“To win the upcoming BBMP elections illegally, the BJP has opted for this unlawful method by indulging in voters’ list manipulation and voter data theft. This is a punishable offence under the Indian Penal Code,” Opposition leader Siddaramaiah said.
“Bommai committed this fraud. He has no moral right to continue as the CM. He must resign,” he demanded.
Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and other Congress leaders lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, CH Pratap Reddy. (Supplied)
Siddarmaiah also demanded a high court chief justice-monitored probe into the incident.
“This is a first in the history of Karnataka. The entire investigation should be carried out under the supervision of the chief justice of the highest court in the state,” the former chief minister said.
The AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, also demanded Bommai’s resignation. He said the chief minister should be arrested.
Later, Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar and other leaders met Bengaluru City Police Commissioner CK Pratap Reddy, and lodged a formal complaint.
Chief Minister Bommai denied the allegation and termed it baseless.
“The Congress has gone bankrupt on ideas. It is a matter between the Election Commission, BBMP and the NGO. If the NGO has misused its position an enquiry will be carried out and action will be initiated. I will ensure that the entire episode is investigated,” he told reporters.
CM Basavaraj Bommai.(Sourced)
“These are all baseless allegations and they do not have substantial evidence to support their allegations. We are not shying away from any inquiry. I have asked the BBMP commissioner to file a case,” he added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena directed the District Electoral Officer to probe the alleged incident in which the NGO, Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Institute, impersonated government officials and went door-to-door to collect personal data of voters.
“If any institution or an individual is found violating any laws, action will be taken accordingly,” he said in a statement.
Meena said that the DEO had not granted permission for the survey. The permission granted to create awareness among the electorate was withdrawn after receiving a complaint against the NGO. The CEO added that the Election Returning Officer at the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency had complained to the Whitefield police.
Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the BBMP granting permission to the NGO to launch a special awareness drive “shocking”.
“Shockingly, a private entity with zero experience and awareness was granted permission to conduct Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP),” the Rajya Sabha MP said in a media briefing.
“Interestingly, this private entity had approached the BBMP seeking permission to carry out the SVEEP activity. Without publishing any advertisement on SVEEP, the BBMP gave its approval to Chilume within 48 hours of receiving its application. This private entity also owns another firm, DAP Hombale,” Surjewala pointed out.
“Instead of carrying out the SVEEP activity, it illegally collected voters’ personal information such as their caste, mother tongue, marital status, age, gender, employment and education details. It also collected the Aadhaar card and phone numbers, address, and other details of the voters.”
The AICC general secretary said the NGO’s actions amounted to a breach of privacy.
“The private entity carried out this work by impersonating Booth Level Officers. The BBMP issued them official identification cards. Thereafter, instead of uploading the data of voters into the Garuda application, the official app of the Election Commission of India (ECI), they uploaded it to Digital Sameeksha, which is owned by Chilume Enterprises Private Limited,” Surjewala alleged.
The Congress leader further said that services listed on Chilume’s website included electronic voting machine and counting hall preparations, CCTV installation, and webcasting for political parties.
“I have never heard of a private entity providing such services. According to my knowledge, only the ECI can do it,” Surjewala said.
He released the photos of Krishnappa Ravikumar, who is associated with Chilume, celebrating his birthday in the presence of Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology CN Ashwath Narayan.
“This NGO has claimed that it provides services to political parties, MPs, MLAs and elected representatives. The proximity of kingpin Krishnappa to the former deputy chief minister Ashwath Narayan says who all are behind this electoral fraud,” he said.
Surjewala held Bommai, who is also the minister in charge of Bengaluru, Ashwath Narayan and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath responsible for the electoral fraud. “I demand CM Bommai to step down from his post immediately,” he urged.
Additionally, Surjewala fired six questions at Bommai:
“The BBMP is responsible for this fraud. As CM Bommai is in-charge of the BBMP, he must resign. An FIR has to be registered against Bommai. He has to be arrested and won’t get bail for at least three months. The guilty person is sitting at the helm of affairs in the state. An enquiry committee has to be set up under the chief justice of the High Court of Karnataka,” he demanded.
Surjewala appreciated the journalists who investigated the incident.
KPCC president Shivakumar said his party had been pursuing the fraud for the past two months.
“The Chilume had approached BBMP to carry out SVEEP activity free of cost, but they paid ₹1,500 to over 2,000 BJP party workers to carry out this work across the city every day. Who was funding this work.” he asked.
“I had high regard for the BBMP commissioner. I never imagined that he would be involved in such a heinous crime,” he added.
He also pointed out that the BBMP terminated the contract with Chilume as soon as it found something fishy.
“It is a conspiracy to remove Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe and minority voters from the electoral tolls and add bogus voters. We know that BJP is in no position to win the BBMP polls. It is making an effort to win through illegal means. The BJP is converting IT capital to Corrupt capital,” Shivakumar contended.
BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath, meanwhile, said the NGO had violated the conditions for carrying out SVEEP. “We appeal to the public not to share any information with this private entity,” he said.
Responding to Congress’s charges against him and the government, Ashwath Narayan, too, termed them “baseless” and dared the opposition party to produce evidence.
“If any person has carried out surveys, then it is sanctioned by the ECI. If there had been any wrongdoing then I condemn it and the Congress should go to the ECI. These allegations against us are baseless. The Congress is in the habit of making allegations without proof,” the minister added.
The NGO allegedly collected the personal information of thousands of voters by making their field agents masquerade as government officials.
A government order helped the non-profit to commit the alleged data theft. The BBMP had given Chilume permission to conduct an awareness drive under the SVEEP programme.
The investigation by journalists found that the NGO misused permission and issued fake ID cards of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to hundreds of their field agents.
According to the ECI norms, a BLO should be a government, quasi-government or retired government official residing in the assigned polling station limits.
Besides collecting personal data, the field agents questioned voters on the performance of their elected representatives.
