Bengaluru, Sep 24 Karnataka Congress president B K Hariprasad on Thursday alleged that BJP MLA Abhay Patil wrote a letter to the Election Commission asking to delete the names of 2,500 voters from the electoral roll in Belagavi.
He also claimed that all the names given by the MLA were from the minority community, who he had called Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.
“An MLA wrote to the Election Commission saying that names of 2,500 people should be deleted from the electoral roll. They are from minorities. He is calling them Pakistanis and Bangladeshi,” Hariprasad told reporters here.
He also showed a copy of the letter to the Election Commission.
The state Congress chief claimed that the Election Commission responded saying that it cannot delete the voter names like that.
In one booth alone, application forms were submitted to delete the names of 50 people from one family. The form clearly states that if anyone interferes with the process or files any bogus form, they will be liable for punishment, Hariprasad said.
“I demand that whoever has filed Form-7 seeking deletion of voters from the electoral roll should face immediate action. They should be arrested immediately and subjected to legal proceedings,” the Congress leader said.
“Here is MLA Abhay Patil’s letter asking for all these people to be deleted. Who are they to seek their deletion? We have also found that deletion forms were filed without signatures. Names of around 7,000 voters have been included in deletion forms, and not a single one of them bears a signature,” he alleged.
Hariprasad said the act raises suspicion that there had been his (Patil’s) involvement.
The Election Commissioner should take action against officials involved in this, and action should also be taken against those who submitted Form-7 seeking the deletion of voter names, Hariprasad, who is a Congress MLC, said.
He said there is no provision for asking to delete the voter names from the list and making such demand itself is illegal.
Stating that the BJP was exposed following the letter, he alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have apparently decided to remove around 13 crore voter names from the electoral rolls in this country.
“Their workers and their blind followers support them and are carrying out this work. I demand that everyone should remain vigilant about this and strict action should be taken against them,” he said.
Hariprasad said that he would be taking up this matter to the Election Commission.
“We will lodge a complaint tomorrow because one member of that family has to come from Belagavi,” he said.
According to him, the victim of the conspiracy was a Congress worker.
“We have very clear evidence. The SIR is not being conducted properly anywhere. Those who are opposed to the BJP are being targeted,” the Congress state president said.
He charged that the BJP and the RSS were trying to remove genuine voters, poor people and those who believe in the Constitution from the electoral rolls.
There was no immediate reaction from Abhay Patil on the allegations.
(PTI News)
