Karnataka voter ID scam: Do Congress leaders have access to BBMP site asks BJP

The entire Karnataka debate has shifted to the voter ID scam which rocked the state late on Tuesday night. The allegation is that close to 20,000 fake voter IDs were found in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency. The BJP alleged that they were recovered from the Congress candidate, Muniratna.

This prompted the Election Commission to address an emergency presser. The Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka, Sanjeev Kumar said that more than 9,000 genuine voter IDs were recovered from a flat belonging to a woman. He said that he was unsure of how these voter IDs reached the flat in the constituency and added that the matter would be probed over the next 24 hours.

As the BJP has sought the countermanding of the elections in the constituency, the Congress has accused the party of enacting a drama. Congress leader, Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the the apartment belonged to a BJP leader, Manjula Nanjamari. He said that she had rented the apartment to her son who contested the 2015 BBMP polls on a BJP ticket. The apartment was not raided by the EC or police, but the BJP, he said.

Sanjeev Kumar however during the press conference pointed out that the apartment was raided by the police. There was no one there, but the police managed to confiscate the voter IDs he also added.
The BJP has been demanding action and have been tweeting extensively with the hashtag congresscheeatsdemoracy. S Prakash, spokesperson of the BJP says that the Congress party candidates have been given access to the BBMP website which is enabling them to upload names using fake IDs. The Congress is indulging in large scale malpractice to win the Karnataka elections, he also said. He demanded the immediate arrest of the BBMP officials who leaked the password.
The EC should thoroughly verify the website to track down the culprits and delete the names added after the elections were declared, Prakash also said.

Union Minister and BJP leader, Sadananda Gowda sought to counter Surjewala's charge. He said that the statement from the EC is very clear. The flat where the IDs were found was allegedly rented out to Rakesh. If the EC had proof they would not have used the word allegedly, he added.

"I present the statement from EC which never said Manjula Nanja Mari and Rakesh are mother and son. It is a Congress conspiracy to make them mother and son. I challenge the Congress to prove the statement. Now the Congresss fearing loss is making efforts to rig the elections," Gowda also said.

He also added that Rakesh is not the son of Manjula. She worked against Rakesh in the last BBMP elections, Gowda further clarified. In a tweet, Gowda said, "BJP demands countermanding of elections in AC 154 Raj Rajeshwari Nagar in light of latest revelations of tens of thousands of fake voter ID and empty packets of hard currency. This is Congress conspiracy to rig election , in face of their imminent defeat."