SIR being used to divert attention from failures of Congress govt. in Karnataka, says Vijayendra

BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra on Tuesday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of using the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to divert attention from its “failures” in governance.

Addressing a press conference in Dharwad on Tuesday, Mr. Vijayendra questioned the basis of Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s allegation that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was targeting AHINDA voters, pointing out that officials involved in the SIR exercise were from the State government machinery.

On Mr. Shivakumar’s protest at the State Election Office over the SIR exercise, Mr. Vijayendra said the Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbu Kumar had clarified that no immediate action would be taken to delete names of voters from the electoral rolls based on Form-7 applications.

“The allegations against the ECI are part of a smear campaign and have no basis,” Mr. Vijayendra said.

Defending the SIR exercise, he said it was a mandatory electoral process and referred to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s reported remarks on the role of electoral roll revision in Keralam.

Mr. Vijayendra also accused Home Minister G. Parameshwara of misusing the police machinery by registering cases against BJP workers and “harassing” them. The BJP would take legal recourse against such actions, he said.

The BJP State president alleged that the implementation of the Congress government’s five guarantee schemes had put pressure on the State’s finances. He claimed that the free bus travel scheme for women had resulted in losses of about ₹8,000 crore to the State transport corporations and that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation had accumulated dues of about ₹6,500 crore and was facing difficulties in paying salaries.

He also alleged that the Excise Department had been given unrealistic revenue targets to shore up government finances and claimed that liquor was being sold through grocery shops. He said price rise was the only achievement of the Congress government and claimed that despite having 139 MLAs, the government was feeling insecure.

Mr. Vijayendra said the government had failed to fill about 2.5 lakh vacancies in various departments. He accused the government of failing to adequately address farmers’ distress caused by drought, crop losses, inadequate power supply and water shortage. The government should give compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare for affected farmers, he said.

He alleged that the government’s focus was on real estate development rather than addressing agricultural distress.

Mr. Vijayendra expressed confidence that the BJP would perform well in the forthcoming Legislative Council elections and the zilla panchayat and gram panchayat polls. The party would return to power in Karnataka in 2028 with more than 130 seats, he claimed.