BENGALURU: Bribing electorate to vote for a specific candidate is oldschool. Enticing citizens not to workout their franchise is the brand new trend this is rapid catching up in poll-bound Karnataka. The seizure of 10,000 voter ID playing cards from an apartment at RR Nagar right here on Tuesday afternoon appears to be an indication of this “new craft”.
This is how the racket works: applicants bribe registered citizens, who they consider would no longer vote for them for ideological causes, in trade for their electors photograph identity playing cards (EPIC).
The value of EPIC playing cards varies from place to put. It is solely Rs 100 in a Lambani tanda (cluster) in a far off meeting phase of north Karnataka however may move up to Rs 2,000 for slum dwellers in Bengaluru.
“I used to be approached by means of supporters of a BJP candidate who asked me if I sought after to get Rs 1,000 for no longer vote casting,” Arbaz Khan (identify modified), a wood worker in Hebbal, stated. “And I stated, ‘sure’. Some of other absentee citizens in my colony got a pint of whiskey in conjunction with money,” he claimed.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar Bangarappa contesting from Shivamogga had alleged that BJP used to be purchasing voter ID playing cards at Rs 500 from Muslims and Lambanis in Congress-dominated spaces. The actor-turned-politician is contesting on a BJP ticket this time after defecting from the Congress.
State election officers, alternatively, stated it’s nonetheless no longer simple to thieve a vote. “There is one thing known as the vulnerability mapping that the Election Commission has brought out. We have to determine whether any team of folks is being avoided from coming to solid their vote. If we find some evidence, we've power to countermand the polls,” they added.
Moreover, a voter can also workout his or her vote by means of producing any one of the most photograph identity proofs issued by means of govt companies, if he or she does no longer have the voter ID card. “We have robust provisions beneath Section 135 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that take care of rigging polls,” stated Manoj R Rajan, particular commissioner, elections (BBMP).
This is how the racket works: applicants bribe registered citizens, who they consider would no longer vote for them for ideological causes, in trade for their electors photograph identity playing cards (EPIC).
The value of EPIC playing cards varies from place to put. It is solely Rs 100 in a Lambani tanda (cluster) in a far off meeting phase of north Karnataka however may move up to Rs 2,000 for slum dwellers in Bengaluru.
“I used to be approached by means of supporters of a BJP candidate who asked me if I sought after to get Rs 1,000 for no longer vote casting,” Arbaz Khan (identify modified), a wood worker in Hebbal, stated. “And I stated, ‘sure’. Some of other absentee citizens in my colony got a pint of whiskey in conjunction with money,” he claimed.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Kumar Bangarappa contesting from Shivamogga had alleged that BJP used to be purchasing voter ID playing cards at Rs 500 from Muslims and Lambanis in Congress-dominated spaces. The actor-turned-politician is contesting on a BJP ticket this time after defecting from the Congress.
State election officers, alternatively, stated it’s nonetheless no longer simple to thieve a vote. “There is one thing known as the vulnerability mapping that the Election Commission has brought out. We have to determine whether any team of folks is being avoided from coming to solid their vote. If we find some evidence, we've power to countermand the polls,” they added.
Moreover, a voter can also workout his or her vote by means of producing any one of the most photograph identity proofs issued by means of govt companies, if he or she does no longer have the voter ID card. “We have robust provisions beneath Section 135 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that take care of rigging polls,” stated Manoj R Rajan, particular commissioner, elections (BBMP).
In poll-bound Karnataka, voter ID cards bought for Rs 100
![In poll-bound Karnataka, voter ID cards bought for Rs 100]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 10, 2018
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