MANGALURU: State Congress president DK Shivakumar said the party has information about malpractices in the bye elections held for Sira and RR Nagar constituencies.
He told reporters at the circuit house here on Thursday that the party will discuss the issue very seriously.
“We have information regarding election malpractices and distribution of money. We will discuss it. We must accept the defeat. People cutting across all sections, including educated, youth and women, say that they have voted for Congress. I have never expected such a huge margin of more than 50,000 votes in RR Nagar constituency.
Hence, we have planned a broad inquiry to check whether the claims of voters are wrong or if there is something wrong in polling of votes. We have several options when it comes to inquiry. Many speak about electronic voting machines. Let us wait for opinion from our experts, whom I have invited to talk. There is a need for a correction process,” Shivakumar said.
On BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel’s allegations of Congress chief protecting former mayor and Congress leader Sampath Raj, who went missing, Shivakumar questioned, “Is he (Kateel) the home minister (of Karnataka)?”
“They can arrest D K Shivakumar right? They have already arrested me once. Let them arrest me again if they want. I know they have been planning to trouble me more and I have been receiving information on it,” Shivakumar added.
“We have planned to change our party building strategy. I am confident that people in this state will be enlightened. They will realise that only Congress can develop this nation and the state since our party is acceptable for all sections of the society. There may be some setbacks for the time being. Party workers may be upset after the bye elections. We have seen many bye election victories in Ballari, Nanjangud, Gundlupet and many other constituencies. Hence, bye elections can never be a yardstick to weigh political parties,” he said.