Midnight Drama In Bengaluru After 10,000 Voter IDs Found In Apartment

BENGALURU: The Election Commission has ordered an inquiry after nearly 10,000 voter ID cards were found in a Bengaluru apartment, which set off political sparring at midnight and demands by the BJP that voting in the constituency be cancelled before the Karnataka polls on Saturday.

The apartment is located in the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency of Bengaluru, one of the 223 constituencies where voting will be held.

In a late night press conference, the BJP alleged that the apartment was linked to a lawmaker of the state’s ruling Congress. The Congress hit back, accusing the BJP of enacting a "drama" of raiding an apartment owned by a local BJP leader and planting "fake evidence".

Addressing a press conference around midnight, Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said two trunk-loads of counterfoil strips, which appeared to be the acknowledgement slips of the form used to add names of voters, were also found. But the forms were not the same colour as those used by the Election Commission, he said.

"After a surprise visit was paid to a flat in Jalahalli locality, nearly 9,746 voter ID cards were found. Five laptops and one printer was also found in the flat," said Mr Kumar.

"In next 24 hours we will get to know more facts based on which a firm decision will be taken," he added.

In a tweet, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of engineering the "conspiracy to rig election in face of their imminent defeat".

Strongly rebutting the charges, the Congress, in a series of tweets, accused the BJP of an elaborate plan to discredit the ruling party.

"BJP enacted this drama in an apartment belonging to their own leader, Manjula Nanjamari. She has rented the apartment to her son Mr Rakesh who contested the 2015 BBMP (local) elections on a BJP ticket. Apartment was not raided by police or EC but by BJP workers," said Congress's Randeep Singh Surjewala.

"This is a BJP conspiracy & we have exposed it. High level enquiry should be ordered by EC against all those indulging in this conspiracy to get the election countermanded by planting fake evidence. Lodge an FIR against all these top bjp leaders": @rssurjewala#BJPDramaExposed

 Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) May 8, 2018

Dismissing the Congress's allegations, Union minister Sadananda Gowda tweeted an Election Commission document, which said Mr Rakesh is not Ms Nanjamari's son.

I present the statement from EC which never said Mrs Manjula Nanja Mari And Mr Rakesh is Mother n Son . It's congress conspiracy to make them mother -son . I challenge @INCIndia to prove the statement . Now Congress fear loss of their efforts to rig the elections. pic.twitter.com/EbT7Px6mCM

Sadananda Gowda (@DVSBJP) May 9, 2018

Raja Rajeshwari Nagar is one of the larger constituencies in Bengaluru and has about 4.71 lakh voters. In 2013, the seat had gone to the Congress's Munirathna, who bagged a 37 per cent vote share. Munirathna, seeking re-election, is pitted against the BJP's Muniraju Gowda PM who put out a video of his search on Facebook.

Karnataka has a 225-member assembly, which includes a nominated member. Voting has been put off in the Jayanagar seat in south Bangalore after the death of the BJP candidate. The results will be declared on May 15.