BJP urges EC to probe VVPATs found in shed

Suspecting electoral foul play behind the discovery of eight Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in a shed in Managuli village in Vijayapura district, the BJP has urged the Election Commission to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the matter.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje, who is also the party’s state unit General Secretary, sought the Election Commission to look into the discovery of the VVPAT machines and check if there is a connection with the complaint given by party candidate from Babaleshwar Assembly constituency, also in Vijayapura district, on the day of the counting.

BJP candidate Vijugowda Patil had complained on the day of counting against the poor polling for the party recorded in certain booths, where the EVMs had been changed.

Fake CD

Ms. Karandlaje has also urged the Election Commission to probe the fake audio tapes released by the Congress party to paint the BJP leaders in poor light by claiming they offered bribes to lure Congress and JD(S) MLAs.

Referring to the clarification issued by Congress MLA Shivaram Hebbar from Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district that no BJP leader had spoken to his wife, Ms. Karandlaje said the Election Commission should probe and find out the “mimicry” artistes deployed by the Congress party to project BJP leaders in poor light.

She said the BJP made no efforts to bribe Congress or JD(S) MLAs to win their support in the trust vote. “We had publicly appealed to the MLAs to cast their conscience vote during the vote of confidence. We never tried to bribe the Congress or JD(S) MLAs.”

She said BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa had already begun touring the State to not only ensure a good performance by the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but also to bring the party to power in the State.

The coalition government that is expected to take over the reins of administration in the State will soon fall, she said. “This is not the first time the two parties had formed a coalition government. You know what happened after they joined hands during 2004,” Ms. Karandlaje recalled.

To a question, she denied that the BJP had any understanding with the JD(S) in Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency from where former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lost to G.T. Deve Gowda of JD(S). “Ours is a national party. We had no understanding with any party”, she said refuting the charges that the party had deliberately fielded weak candidate in Chamundeshwari to defeat the Congress.

“I have to agree that our party is organisationally weak in the Mysuru-Mandya belt and that is the reason why we had not done well in some constituencies here,” she added.