CEO asks Regional Commissioner to conduct inquiry; Bommai, Minister rubbish charges

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka Manoj Kumar Meena has written to the Regional Commissioner of Bengaluru to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged breach of privacy by an NGO while creating awareness on voter registration and submit a comprehensive report.

Mr. Meena in a letter on Thursday said that his office received a complaint on November 10 on WhatsApp where it was alleged that a private person used an identity card to impersonate the booth-level officer (BLO) in Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in the city.

“With regard to the complaint, the electoral registration officer 174 — Mahadevapura Assembly constituency has reported that identity cards were issued to Chilume Educational, Cultural and Rural Development Trust to work as booth-level coordinating officers on January 29, 2022, based on the permission of the district election officer given to the said institution for coordinating with the BLOs and that the said institution had made photocopies of the ID cards and written BLO, June 9, 2022, on them,” Mr. Meena said in his letter.

“With regard to the misuse of permission and the ID card, a case has been registered with Whitefield police on November 15, 2022,” he added.

‘Bankruptcy of ideas’

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had earlier in the day said that a comprehensive inquiry would be conducted into the allegations. However, he said that the Congress’ allegation against him and the government of their involvement only showed their “bankruptcy of ideas”.

“The government is no way connected with it. If this has happened at a lower level, it will be inquired into and the guilty will be punished,” the Chief Minister said.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan said he would file a defamation case for connecting him with the NGO that is facing the allegation of collecting voter data by fraudulent means. He said there was an effort by the Congress to malign him for the fear that his and his party’s achievements would lead to the party’s electoral debacle.