MANGALURU: State Congress president D K Shivakumar said the party has information about malpractices committed in the byelections held for Sira and RR Nagar constituencies.
He told reporters: “We have information regarding election malpractices and distribution of money. We will discuss about it. We must accept the defeat. People cutting across all sections, including educated youths and women, say they have voted for the Congress. I 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 conducting an inquiry. Many speak about electronic voting machines. Let us wait for an opinion from our experts, whom I have invited to discuss about the issue. There is a need to correct the process,” Shivakumar said.
On BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel’s allegations that the Congress chief was 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. I have been receiving information,” Shivakumar added.
“We have planned our style of party building strategy. I am confident that people in this state will be enlightened. They will realise that only the Congress can develop this nation and the state, since our party is acceptable to all sections of society. There may be some setbacks for the time being. Party workers may be upset after the byelections. We have seen many byelection victories in Ballari, Nanjangud, Gundlupet and many other constituencies. Hence, byelections can never be a yardstick to weigh political parties,” he said.