Siddaramaiah takes Rahul Gandhi’s “vote theft” campaign to next level, his Cabinet favours use of paper ballots in upcoming local body polls

Karnataka’s Congress regime has decided to ask the state election commission (SEC) to hold the upcoming local body polls using the ballot papers taking AICC leader Rahul Gandhi’s fight against “vote-theft” to the next level.Elections are due, among others, to the five new city corporations in Bengaluru, and if the government has its way, the voters in Bengaluru will see the return of paper ballots after a long time.

Law & Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil said the Cabinet took the decision in response to concerns and complaints over anomalies in electoral rolls. The EVMs, he added, were losing credibility. The government will make necessary changes in the laws to facilitate the use switch, he said.

The SEC is also on the same page with the state government on the subject. Commissioner GS Sangreshi told ET that no law prohibited the use of ballot papers in the local body polls, and it had held the last gram panchayat with ballot papers. The Commission, he added, was anyway disposing of all those EVMs that have completed their lifecycle of 15 years.

The SEC officials confirmed that they would use paper ballots in the civic polls in Bengaluru. The government, however, would have to provide for the additional expenses arising out of the change, they added.

Rahul Gandhi had kicked off the Congress party’s nationwide vote-theft campaign from Bengaluru on August 8, seeking to amplify his charge that the elections had been rigged in Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat, last year. Targeting the Election Commission of India (ECI), Gandhi had alleged 1,00,250 votes were stolen out of 6.5 lakh votes in the Mahadevapura. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has thrown his weight behind Gandhi endorsing his allegations of vote-theft.