Siddaramaiah demands HC Chief Justice monitored probe into ‘voter data theft’

PTI, Nov 18, 2022, 7:21 PM IST

Image Courtesy: Twitter/Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: The Congress on Friday demanded that the BJP government in Karnataka order a High Court Chief Justice monitored judicial probe to expose what it called ‘Operation Voter’ scam.

The opposition party on Thursday alleged “theft” of voter data in Bengaluru and breach of privacy.

An FIR has been registered against NGO ‘Chilume Trust’ and one of its employees.

The Congress alleged that the private agency was granted permission for a house-to-house survey to create awareness among voters on filing online applications and charged it with collecting their personal data by presenting themselves as booth-level officers (BLOs).

Siddaramaiah, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and former Chief Minister, sought to know “whether the BJP government is trying to save its corrupt ministers by framing an agent”.

In a series of tweets, he charged the government with betraying people by allegedly “stealing the voter information and illegally collecting their personal data”.

“Bengaluru police have registered a case against an agent named Lokesh, who just works with Chilume for a salary of Rs 20,000, in the #OperationVoter scam. Is this 40% @BSBommai Sarkara trying to save their corrupt ministers by making ordinary employee a scape goat?,” Siddaramaiah asked.

Bengaluru police have registered a case against an agent named Lokesh, who just works with Chilume for a salary of Rs 20,000, in the #OperationVoter scam.

Is this 40% @BSBommai sarkara trying to save their corrupt ministers by making ordinary employee a scape goat?

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 18, 2022

He said, “We demand High Court Chief Justice monitored Judicial probe to expose the real culprits behind #OperationVoter scam. Why is the govt afraid of initiating a judicial probe? Why is @BSBommai in a hurry to brush the case off?” “It is a blot on the democracy as BJP infringes upon the privacy of innocent people. @BSBommai & his cabinet should resign for cheating people,” the Congress stalwart said.

We demand High Court Chief Justice monitored Judicial probe to expose the real culprits behind #OperationVoter scam.

Why is the govt afraid of initiating a judicial probe?

Why is @BSBommai in a hurry to brush the case off?

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) November 18, 2022

The Congress has accused the government of being responsible for the “corrupt electoral practice” by assigning a private entity Chilume Trust to collect door-to-door voter information.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has dismissed the charges saying that the “Congress is bankrupt with ideas due to which it is making baseless charges without any proof”.