Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 6 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday alleged that opposition parties were conspiring to deprive the poor and minorities of their voting rights, while asserting that the state government was only creating awareness among people about Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and had no interference in the Election Commission’s exercise.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said, “Even though we oppose the SIR process, our government is creating awareness among the people to protect their voting rights. This is a process of the Election Commission, and there is no government interference in it. But it is a conspiracy by the opposition parties to snatch away the voting rights of the poor and minorities.”
Referring to complaints submitted by Union Ministers HD Kumaraswamy and Pralhad Joshi to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) over the SIR process in Karnataka, Shivakumar said the state government had challenged the exercise in court and remained dissatisfied with the timeline prescribed for it.
“We have our own disagreement on the SIR matter. We presented our argument in court, and the court has given its verdict on this. We are unhappy about the timeline of this process, and we will approach the court against that as well. Our government has joined hands with the Election Commission because we must protect everyone’s right to vote.”
He said the government had extended full cooperation to the Election Commission to safeguard every citizen’s right to vote and claimed that no other state had cooperated with the poll body to the same extent.
Shivakumar said the Election Commission had allowed all political parties to appoint booth-level agents (BLAs) and permitted organisations to assist the exercise, adding that officials were functioning according to the Commission’s directions.
“The Election Commission itself has given all parties the opportunity to appoint BLAs (booth-level agents). Congress, BJP and Janata Dal have appointed BLAs. Organisations have been given the opportunity to provide assistance. Officials are functioning according to the guidance they have received from the Election Commission. The Opposition parties have started to fear the awareness our government is creating about SIR. This shows that they themselves have no trust in the Election Commission. They are saying it should be cancelled. This is a matter left to the Election Commission,” he said.
Claiming that the government had facilitated access to caste certificates, residence confirmation certificates and old electoral records, Shivakumar accused the opposition of branding people as “illegal Bangladeshi migrants” and questioned why they had not acted against such migrants when they were in power.
“About 4.50 crore people in the state have obtained caste certificates. We have provided the facility to download these online. Further, powers have been given to the Deputy Tahsildar to issue residence confirmation certificates. No one has the 2002 voter roll record with them; a provision has been provided to download this. The government is calling on the people of Karnataka to protect their voting rights. The Opposition parties are simply calling them illegal Bangladeshi migrants. When power was in your hands, why didn’t you drive them out then? Who stopped you at that time?” he asked.
He also said help centres had been established at every polling booth to assist voters and asserted that guiding elected representatives, defeated candidates and the public on protecting electoral rolls was the government’s responsibility.
Shivakumar further said he and Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara would visit Bidar and Basavakalyan to review the rain-deficit situation in the Kalaburagi division. He said rainfall had improved in some parts of the state, inflows into the Almatti and Tungabhadra dams had increased, and the government would prioritise drinking water needs. (ANI)
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