Karnataka BJP President Challenges CM to Prove Voter Deletion Allegations

: Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra challenged Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to prove his allegation that the BJP conspired to delete around 50 lakh voters’ names through Form-7 applications. He said that if Shivakumar cannot prove, he should resign as CM. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Friday, Vijayendra accused the CM of staging a “political drama” by cancelling the cabinet meeting and protesting before the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, on Thursday. Vijayendra said that Shivakumar had accused the BJP of using Form-7 applications to remove minorities, Dalits and Backward Classes voters from the electoral rolls. “If the Chief Minister has made such serious allegations of conspiracy against the BJP, he must prove them. Otherwise, he should resign,” Vijayendra said. The Shikaripura MLA stated that at the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in Mysuru, the number of voters had increased by around 1.3 lakh over the last two elections. He said BJP Minority Morcha president Anil Thomas had visited the constituency during the SIR process and allegedly found thousands of people gathered at one location in connection with the revision exercise. He alleged that when some of those gathered around Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were asked, they allegedly turned out to be from other states or other Assembly constituencies. Vijayendra also alleged that similar irregularities had taken place in several Assembly constituencies, including Shantinagar and Shivajinagar in Bengaluru and Kalaburagi South and some pockets where there is more minority population.