Karnataka Polls: EC Recovers Over 9,000 Voter IDs From Bengaluru House, BJP Alleges Congress Link

In a raid on an apartment in Bengaluru's Jalahalli area of Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency on Tuesday, the Election Commission (EC) of Karnataka has recovered over 9,500 genuine vote identity cards, Times of India has reported.

Addressing a midnight presser, the EC said that it also found five laptops, one printer and two large steel trunks with counterfoils strips resembling acknowledgement slips of forms used for addition of new names to the electoral rolls. The Chief Electoral Officer, addressing the press conference, also pointed towards the unusual spike in new additions the electoral rolls, saying the issue is being investigated and monitored by the EC. The officer said the growth in electoral rolls of the constituency is 10.3 per cent, while the state average is 6.04 per cent.

"FIR has been registered and further investigations will be conducted. The situation is being monitored and appropriate action will be taken", the EC said.

Alleging that the Congress was behind the ‘Voter ID scam’, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded that the election in the constituency be countermanded. The party also said that Congress’ Raja Rajeshwari Nagara candidate Munirathna Naidu was behind this. Naidu, a first time MLA, is considered to be a close aide of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Munirathna is seeking reelection.

"Shocking incident. Congress is losing public support. What has happened here is shocking. It will destroy the faith in elections. In Badami, huge cash and a diary detailing the distribution of money to a large extent- is a shocking incident. Therefore we demand that EC should take actions against concerned persons," said BJP leader and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar.