Mysuru:  Former Minister S.A. Ramdas has sought a judicial probe into what he described as ‘voters list capturing or voters list rigging.’ He alleged that the State Government was misusing its powers to get officials to delete the names of voters from the voters list by citing that they are either dead or have relocated so as to facilitate the victory of the Congress in the ensuing 2018 Assembly election.

Parading the voters who have been “declared dead” before media at a private hotel in city yesterday, Ramdas claimed that the ruling party ensured the deletion of thousands of names from voters list in BJP-dominated wards in its desperate bid to win the Assembly elections.

“The BJP has tracked the deletion and addition of voters’ names in Nanjangud during the last by-polls and now, the Congress government is misusing the administrative machinery to delete voters’ names in Krishnaraja, Chamaraja and Narasimharaja constituencies in Mysuru city and also Chamundeshwari constituency where Chief Minister Siddharamaiah is likely to contest,” he said.

Ramdas alleged the hand of K.R. MLA M.K. Somashekar of the Congress in the irregularities in K.R. Constituency list. Alleging that 4,794 voters in K.R., 5,642 voters in Chamaraja, 3,416 voters in N.R. and 11,212 voters in Chamundeshwari constituency were deleted from the voter list in a hurried manner, the BJP leader lashed out at the Congress saying that the ruling party had indulged in voter-list capturing and voter-list rigging.

Claiming that the Congress legislators were specifically targeting BJP pocket boroughs while deleting names from the voters’ list, the former Minister warned that he would wage a legal battle if the irregularities were not corrected.

Urging the government to order a probe into the “manipulation” of the voter list and deletion of names in violation of the People’s Representation Act, Ramdas said the probe should also reveal those who permitted the deletion and those who are involved in it.

Alleging that the Congress has got names deleted from the voter list based on intelligence report which pointed to a BJP victory, he said a special drive should be conducted to include genuine voters in the list.

Teachers and anganawadi workers used as booth-level officers are being “misused” to favour the ruling Congress party as they were asked to delete the names in 148 out of 223 booths that gave the BJP a lead in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Exhibiting 3,000 applications filled by one person alone, he alleged that names were deleted by either claiming that the voters had shifted their homes or passed away, though, in fact, many of them are still alive and living at the same addresses. The voters whose names are deleted from the list declaring they were “dead” were also paraded before the media. These voters will also lodge criminal and cheating cases with the Police for name deletion, he said.

Tracing the origin of the episode in the three Assembly constituencies of the city, Ramdas said that, “MLA Somashekar has written a letter to the Deputy Commissioner on July 28, seeking deletion of the ‘unauthorised’ names in the voters list. On July 29, the DC has written a letter to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner, directing him to take measures to revise the voters’ list, citing the MLA’s letter. In the letter dated August 4, the MCC Commissioner has directed his Zonal Commissioners, Revenue Officers, and Assistant Revenue Officers to verify the voters list and to report within 15 days, again citing the MLA’s letter.”

“Except the Election Commission and the voters concerned, nobody is authorised to seek a revision of the voters’ list. By asking the DC to revise the voters’ list, the MLA has violated the law. By following the MLA’s directions, both the DC and the MCC Commissioner and their subordinate officials have erred. No procedure has been followed and the process has been completed in a hurry. So, a complaint has been lodged with the Election Commission (EC) in this connection on Oct. 13. Even as the EC was probing the complaint, the Tahsildar in the MCC, responsible for election work, has been transferred to Chikkaballapura,” he pointed out. He said that he will initiate a legal battle against the rigging from Nov. 7.

“Dead” voter sends vadas

Veena, a roadside chat vendor in Vidyaranyapuram, sent vadas to MLA Somashekar for listing her as dead in the voter- list. Stating that she is alive selling chats, Veena couriered vadas to the local legislator along with a photocopy of Aadhaar and Voter ID cards.