BJP undermining Constitutional principle of universal adult franchise, says M.B. Patil

“By introducing the ill-intentioned Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the BJP is undermining the Constitutional principle of universal adult franchise,” Minister for Large and Medium Industries M.B. Patil said in Vijayapura on Monday.

“BJP leaders want to keep their power uncontested. Party leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are conspiring to take away the principle of ‘One Person, One Vote’ guaranteed to us by B.R. Ambedkar. The person who framed the Constitution granted everyone an equal right to vote, but BJP leaders are unjustly depriving people of the right to participate in a democracy. This is a grave offence,’’ Mr. Patil told reporters.

“It is wrong to deprive voters of their rights — regardless of which party they intend to vote for — and we have never done such a thing. Under the leadership of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and with KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, we will not allow anyone to snatch away the rights of eligible voters,” he said.

“The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is misusing the Election Commission of India and its officials. This has led to a chaotic situation pertaining to the electoral rolls across the country. Consequently, the rights of eligible voters have been snatched away. Votes belonging to Opposition parties — including the Congress and the TMC — numbering in the lakhs and crores, have been deleted. I only want to tell the BJP leaders that instead of trying to snatch away the rights of eligible voters, they should try to contest elections and seek the people’s mandate,” he said.

“We have no objection to removing the names of the deceased, those with duplicate entries, or those who have migrated elsewhere, but we can not silently sit and accept large-scale injustice and irregularities being committed solely to win elections by fraudulent means. It is clear by now that the BJP has been winning elections by employing such tactics,” he said.

Mr. Patil sought action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, charging him with turning the apex electoral body into a one-person institution to help the ruling party. “It has become clear that other election officials have raised objections regarding Mr. Kumar’s decisions and his conduct. He must now be impeached without any delay or hesitation. An impartial and honest individual should be appointed in his place,” he said.

“What is more, this matter should be investigated by the Supreme Court. Elections are due in several States, including Karnataka, in the next 18 months. A few months ago, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a major campaign against ‘vote theft’. Congress leaders across the State have been protesting against the SIR process. Recent revelations regarding the actions of Mr. Kumar have proven Mr. Gandhi’s earlier claims to be true. The Congress will fight for justice till the end,” he said.

Mr. Patil alleged that the office staff of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, MLA, had filed bulk third-party objections under Form 7 against eligible voters in Vijayapura district.

“In my constituency of Babaleshwar, some BJP workers filed objections against 1,634 voters using Form 7. But then, they withdrew them after realising that the law did not permit bulk objections. These actions were taken by BJP members Bhimu Golasangi, Govinda Mudanur, and Anand Ambiger. After submitting the objections on the 21st, they visited the ARO office on the 23rd to submit a fresh application withdrawing those objections,” the Minister said.

“Similarly, in the Vijayapura city constituency, the BJP submitted over 5,000 objection applications on September 22nd and another 8,000 on September 23rd, only to withdraw them later. The applications had been filed by staff members from the office of Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, MLA, namely Rajkumar Biradar, Sachin Padaganur, Chandrashekhar Kavatagi, Mallanagouda Patil, Premananda Biradar, Girish Biradar, and Chandru Choudhary. However, they subsequently withdrew them. We thank K. Anandh, Deputy Commissioner and District Electoral Officer, for performing his duties with transparency,” he said.