Basavaraj Bommai was responding to a question about the Congress party’s allegations. (File)
Dharwad (Karnataka):
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday rejected charges that the names of people from minority communities would be removed from the state’s electoral rolls.
The prime minister said only the Election Commission can add or remove names from the electoral roll.
“These are all lies. The Election Commission has already taken note of it. The deletion and addition is done only by the Election Commission,” Bommai told reporters, adding that there are officials appointed by the EC for this purpose.
He was responding to a question about the Congress party’s claims that minority votes are being expunged from the state’s electoral roll.
Congress had alleged that a private trust was hired to conduct an illegal poll of voters by posing as government officials. The party expressed fear that the minority votes would be scrapped.
Mr. Bommai said the state government just wants to say one thing that the Election Commission should immediately investigate through its officials in those places where such complaints are heard.
According to him, there can be illegality due to the inclusion of a single voter in two places or the absence of voters at the location stated on the voter list.
“The point here is that voters should have the right to vote. Ensuring voters’ voting rights and removing illegal voters is the job of the EBI,” the Chief Minister explained.
Regarding the attack on a youth for waving the Kannada flag in Belagavi, which is in the middle of a border dispute with neighboring Maharashtra, Mr Bommai said he has instructed the Belagavi Police Commissioner to investigate the matter and establish the facts present in relation to the case.
If any police personnel are involved in mistreating the youth, action will be taken against them, he added.
Maharashtra has demanded that Belagavi be merged with it in view of the sizable Marathi-speaking population there. However, Karnataka opposes the appeal, saying the state formation took place decades ago and such demands were pointless.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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