1.12 crore signatures collected in the signature campaign against vote theft: DCM DK Shivakumar

Will send the signature campaign details to Delhi on November 10

Election Commission involved in vote theft

Planning to use ballot papers in corporation elections

Bengaluru Express
Bengaluru, Nov 8: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today said that 1.12 crore signatures have been collected from Karnataka as part of the signature campaign against vote theft launched by the AICC leaders.

Addressing a press conference at the Bharat Jodo Bhavan at Congress Bhavan, he said, “We have collected signatures from 40 political districts in the state. The campaign went off very well and we have collected 1,12,40,000 signatures. We have decided to share the signatures to Delhi on November 10. There is a massive rally being planned at Ram Leela Maidan in Delhi on November 25.”

“We are planning to hold the corporation elections through ballot papers. AICC has informed us that Karnataka is the best performing state in the signature campaign against vote theft. The credit goes to party leaders who worked hard. I would like to thank Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi for taking up this campaign,” he added.

Aland election fraud report
“There were attempts to remove 6,000 votes from Aland assembly constituency. Attempts were done to remove the voters from the list using mobile phone numbers from other states. An SIT investigation was going on. Though the investigators wrote to the Election Commission but no information was given. It has come to light that Rs 80 was given for every name deleted from the voter list. The SIT report will be out soon,” he explained.

“Rahul Gandhi has thrown light on vote theft in Haryana. He has said 25 lakh votes are illegal in the elections there. The fight against vote theft has started in right earnest from Karnataka,” he added.

Q&A
Asked why the party has not moved court or submit an affidavit to the Election Commission, he said, “We are seeking supplementary documents from the Election Commission but they are not giving. Let them give the documents and then we will submit an affidavit. The media investigated vote fraud in Mahadevapura constituency and found that more than 84 votes in one address. The Election Commission hasn’t done anything about it.”

Asked by Election Commission wasn’t taking their complaints seriously, he said, “We are doing our efforts. As many as 300 MPs have made their representation to the Election Commission but they have not been responded to.”

“It is our duty to create awareness about vote theft. We are appointing BLAs for all booths to prevent vote theft. We only know how have managed to save 15 lakh voters in Karnataka,” he informed.

Voter list revision
Asked if the Election Commission is coming forward to revise the voter list to cover up the election fraud, he said, “Why did the Election Commission take up voter list revision after we exposed the voter fraud. Hence, we have decided to use the voter list of State Election Commission for the local body elections.”

Asked about Rahul Gandhi’s demand to provide CCTV visuals at booths in violation of secret ballot tenets, he said, “We are not asking for who the voter voted, we are only asking for how many voters went into a booth. In Maharashtra, several lakh votes were cast in the last one hour, should we not know who voted?”

Asked if he would investigate election fraud in Mahadevapura constituency, he said, “The government doesn’t have to investigate this. The Election Commission is in charge of the entire process. We have provided the evidence.”
Appointment for Boards and Corporations within a week
Asked why party workers have not been accommodated in Boards and Corporations, he said, “We have already accommodated 3000 party workers in various places. In each constituency, 15 party workers have been given Guarantee scheme implementation committee responsibilities. As many as 60 party workers have been nominated to various positions. There are 600 posts in Boards and Corporations in the state and we will announce the list in a week’s time.”