Current Events
'Democracy' in Modi/BJP's Hindutva India
DEVESH K. PANDEY
Modi’s BJP party has been declared the winner in this week’s state election in Karnataka, India - which includes Bangalore/Bengaluru.
Here is a news story that reveals what transpired a few days before election day, as the BJP and its opponents tried to out-manouvre each other through fraud … to position themselves for a win or to create fake news to bring down the others. The scam worked: a party - BJP - which initially had no hope of winning, won hands down!
India’s Election Commission has sent Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan Kumar to Karnataka to inquire into the facts about the seizure of more than 100,000 voting documents and 9,700 voter identity cards on Tuesday, May 8, 2018. He has been asked to submit a report by Thursday, two days before Karnataka goes to poll.
“The matter has been taken seriously. After the issue came to light, the Commission had directed the Bangalore (Bangalore) police commissioner and the State Chief Electoral officer to visit the premises from where the seizure was made,” Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said.
He said the facts were being ascertained to decide further course of action.
The Commission has already received a ground report from the Chief Electoral Officer. It is learnt that when the team of State election officials reached the spot on Tuesday the door of the flat was found forced open.
The genuine cards were found at a Jalahalli flat, following which the BJP demanded countermanding of polls in the R.R. Nagar constituency alleging involvement of the Congress.
Malpractice charge
About 100,000 counterfoil strips — resembling acknowledgement slips of Form 6, which is used for adding new names on the electoral rolls, — were also found on the premises.
The seizure triggered late-night media briefings by the BJP and the Congress, with both the parties accusing each other of malpractice. Delegations of the two parties also submitted memorandums to the Commission on Wednesday demanding a thorough probe into the episode.
The flat, from where the cards and other articles were seized, belongs to Manjula Nanjundmuri.
The Congress delegation led by senior party leader Anand Sharma has alleged that the entire episode was stage-managed by the BJP.
“A delegation of the Congress has just met the EC officials. We have submitted a detailed memorandum about the malpractices of the BJP and a concerted attempt by the ruling party, with the assistance of Central agencies, including the Income Tax department, to subvert the process of free and fair elections, target Congress candidates, carry out midnight raids and enact conspiracies,” Mr. Sharma said.
“In that constituency [Raja Rajeshwari Nagar], this drama was enacted and it was not the EC or the police, but the BJP people who raided a flat which belongs to a BJP leader and the tenant is also a BJP leader,” Mr. Sharma alleged.
Within hours, a BJP delegation too landed at the EC’s doors. The delegation included Union Ministers J.P. Nadda, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Smriti Irani. They alleged attempt to rig the polls and asked the Election Commission to countermand the election in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar after thousands of allegedly fake voter ID cards were found in a flat.
The delegation demanded a thorough probe into the matter to find out if similar methods were used in other constituencies.
Ms. Irani said the issue was not just important for the BJP but also for the EC, as voter ID cards are seen as an evidence of people’s faith in the electoral process. Mr. Nadda claimed on behalf of the BJP that the incident showed the design of the Congress to influence the election process, saying that there was “enough evidence” for this.
[Courtesy: The Hindu newspaper. Edited for sikhchic.com]
May 18, 2018
Conversation about this article
1: Arjan Singh (USA), May 18, 2018, 1:33 PM.
Thank you for publishing this article. We all need to be concerned about the current situation on the ground on the subcontinent. This article provides useful information. This is similar if not worse than the events of 1970s and early 1980s when Indira Gandhi used her power to crush democratic norms in India. Majority of the Indian media will not publish such news articles, or simply sideline it.
2: GC Singh (USA), May 21, 2018, 7:39 PM.
Indian agencies are already preparing to massively interfere in Canada's upcoming federal elections to weaken Sikhs and their political power by use of social media, planting of fake news and use of troll factories for spouting venom against Sikhs. Going by the news articles during Trudeau's India visit, it is already very successful in infiltrating the media and co-opted some prominent Canadian journalists. It is about time that the Canadian Government took all precautions for this eventuality.