Karnataka CM: Names of minority voters not deleted

Hubballi: Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday rubbished the charge that names of people from minority communities are being deleted from electoral rolls in the state, stating that the Election Commission (EC) alone can add or delete names from the voters’ list.
“These are nothing but plain lies. The EC has taken cognizance of the matter. Under its monitoring, the voter list revision exercise has been taken up. Both central and state election commissions have taken the issue seriously,” Bommai said, responding to the Congress’s allegations that minority votes are being deleted from electoral rolls in the state.

“If there are complaints on these lines, then the investigation has to be conducted by officers appointed by the Election Commission. At any cost, genuine voters must have their voting rights, and this must be ensured by the EC,” he said.
The CM said there are reports of illegal inclusion of voters in the list and voters with two voter ID cards. Their names should be deleted by the EC at two separate addresses, and even those names must be removed by the EC. The right to exercise voting power should be ensured for the eligible population, and the process must be monitored only by the commission. “The government has no role to play in it,” the CM added.