Votegate: EC seeks action against officials

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to initiate action against officials who were responsible for including the names of eight MLCs in the city electoral rolls based on false information.

“We have received a direction from the ECI to ask the BBMP Commissioner, who is the Bengaluru district election officer, to issue notices to officials who erred in the process and act against them,” Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anil Kumar Jha told DH. A ‘factual report’ prepared by BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad had found eight MLCs — R B Thimmapur (now excise minister), Allum Veerabhadrappa, Raghu Achar, N S Boseraju, S Ravi, C R Manohar, N Appaji Gowda and M D Lakshminarayana — had submitted false information in order to register as voters in the city limits and vote in the 2016 BBMP Mayoral election.

The ECI is silent on whether or not any penal action is required against the MLCs, Jha said. The civic body has already deleted the names of Timmapur, Veerabhadrappa, Boseraju and Lakshminarayana from the electoral roll “because they are no longer city voters” ahead of the Mayoral election scheduled on September 28.