Vijayendra questions Congress over SIR controversy
Vijayendra noted that state-employed Booth Level Officers operate under Election Commission provisions, not as central government staff.
Dharwad BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra on Tuesday questioned the Congress government over the controversy surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Form 7 applications, asking whether the State Government itself had appointed Election Commissioner Anbukumar. Addressing a press conference in Dharwad, Vijayendra criticised Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's allegations that large numbers of Ahinda voters were being removed from electoral rolls. He said claims of 5,000 to 10,000 deletions in each Assembly constituency were misleading. He also argued that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) worked under the State Government and were not Central Government employees. Form 7, he said, was a provision of the Election Commission. Vijayendra also attacked Minister Priyank Kharge over his statements on law and order, alleging that Kalaburagi had witnessed several murders and accusing the minister of using threats to silence political opponents. He said the BJP would not be intimidated by such remarks. On the proposed bus fare hike, Vijayendra said the KSRTC Managing Director had informed the government that around ₹6,500 crore was pending from the State Government. He alleged that the Congress government had increased prices and was relying heavily on excise revenue to fund its ₹52,000-crore guarantee schemes. Referring to the SIR debate, Vijayendra cited Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor's reported remarks on voter-list verification in Kerala and claimed the Congress was criticising the Election Commission to hide its own failures. He also alleged that BJP workers were being targeted through police cases. On the West Graduates' constituency election, Vijayendra said BJP candidate Dhananjaya Sankanur would file his nomination in the presence of senior party leaders. He expressed confidence that Sankanur, a two-time MLC, would win the election by a wide margin. He said the party expected a hat-trick victory in the constituency covering Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri districts.
