Mysuru: Rubbishing former Minister and BJP leader S.A. Ramdas’ allegation that the ruling Congress was indulging in voter list capturing and voter list rigging ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls,  Krishnaraja MLA M.K. Somashekar has demanded a CBI probe to unearth the truth.

Addressing a press conference at Pathrakartara Bhavan here this morning, Somashekar in a counter to Ramdas’ allegation made yesterday, said that it was the BJP which was indulged in electoral roll malpractices.

In support of his claim, Somashekar said that there were 2,16,623 voters in K.R. Constituency for the May 2013 Assembly polls. But the number jumped to 2,28,626 voters as on March 16, 2014 ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he said wondering how come over 12,000 voters were added to the voter list in just one year. He further alleged that more than 7,000 voters were illegally added to the voter list in Feb. 2014 alone.

Citing an example, Somashekar said that the house in which Ramdas lived at Srirampura earlier had no occupants now. But still, Ramdas has been successful in including 5 voters from that house, which explains who is indulged in voter list irregularities.

As another example, Somashekar alleged that the KR voter list showed 11 voters from one house in Sl.No. 347, part 48, when actually only an aged couple lived there and all such irregularities were the handiwork of Ramdas.

Alleging that a few officials of the election branch in MCC were hand-in-glove with Ramdas, the MLA alleged that the BJP does not believe in fair polls.

Accusing the BJP of making false charges with the Assembly polls round the corner, the MLA reiterated his demand for a CBI probe into Ramdas’ allegations to find out the truth.

Corporators Sunil Kumar and Sunil, K.R. Constituency congress leader Somashekar were present during the press  conference.