BENGALURU: Karnataka Legislative Council Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Congress over its allegations of “vote theft” and its opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He challenged the Congress to seek the resignation of its governments in Karnataka and Kerala if it genuinely believed that electoral manipulation had taken place in the two states.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Narayanaswamy was responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s reported communication to the Election Commission seeking cancellation of elections conducted after the SIR exercise and demanding that future elections be held using ballot papers.
Narayanaswamy said political demands should have a logical basis and questioned the Congress’ position on SIR. “If vote theft has happened in Karnataka and Kerala, the Congress has its own governments in both states. Let them resign and show us,” he said.
He argued that if the Congress believed electoral irregularities had affected election outcomes, the party should take responsibility in states where it was in power. He accused the Congress of raising the issue for political purposes instead of providing concrete evidence to support its allegations.
Defending the SIR exercise, Narayanaswamy said the electoral roll revision was being conducted under constitutional provisions and should not be portrayed as an exercise targeted at any particular political party or section of voters.
He also recalled that similar electoral roll revision exercises had taken place when the Congress was in power. According to him, the BJP had not opposed the process merely because it was conducted during a Congress-led government.
“SIR is being conducted according to the Constitution. SIR was also carried out when the Congress was in power, and nobody opposed it then. There is no need to oppose the exercise now,” he said.
The BJP leader also targeted the Congress over its allegations concerning Form 7 applications. He said Form 7 was an established mechanism for raising objections to names appearing in electoral rolls, including entries relating to deceased persons, duplicate voters and ineligible voters.
Narayanaswamy alleged that the Congress was deliberately creating confusion over the use of Form 7. He claimed the BJP was not secretly printing the forms and said they were readily available on the Election Commission’s website.
He said the BJP would approach the Election Commission with a formal complaint against what he described as false allegations being made by Congress leaders. The complaint, he said, would seek action over claims that Form 7 applications were being misused to delete genuine voters from the electoral rolls.
The Opposition leader also rejected allegations that large-scale deletions had already taken place through Form 7 applications. He particularly referred to the claim that the names of around 40-50 lakh voters had been deleted and said the Congress had failed to provide evidence to substantiate the allegation.
“Chief Minister has said that the names of 40-50 lakh voters have been deleted. But no names have been deleted so far through Form 7 applications. The Congress should produce evidence if it has any,” he said.
Narayanaswamy alleged that the Congress was making accusations without documentary proof and said its leaders were “firing bullets in the air” without evidence. He challenged the party to identify specific voters whose names had allegedly been removed and produce official records to support its claims.
Referring to allegations concerning Babaleshwar, he said the Congress had claimed that the names of several thousand voters had been removed. He questioned the basis of the allegation and said the party should provide booth-wise details and identify the allegedly affected voters.
According to Narayanaswamy, the difference in voter numbers at individual polling booths was relatively small, and the Congress should establish whether such differences represented legitimate deletions or actual irregularities.
He further accused the Congress of targeting BJP workers. He warned that his party would not remain silent if its members were allegedly harassed or taken action against in connection with the electoral roll revision.
“If anything is done against our people, we will come onto the streets and fight,” he warned.
The BJP leader also criticised the Congress’ decision to protest before the Election Commission over SIR and Form 7 applications. He alleged that the party was attempting to create an impression that genuine voters were being removed from electoral rolls, while the actual purpose of the revision was to identify and remove ineligible entries.
He said deceased voters, those registered at multiple locations, or others who are otherwise ineligible should not remain on electoral rolls. At the same time, he maintained that the process should be examined through official records and evidence rather than political allegations.
Narayanaswamy also issued a message to police officials amid the ongoing political controversy. He urged the police not to follow instructions from the government or political leaders without question and instead act strictly according to the law.
“Police should not simply listen to the government because it gives an instruction. If you continue doing so, you may have to stand before a court tomorrow,” he said, warning officials about possible legal consequences.
