E-Paper
Karnataka withdraws suspension of 2 IAS officers over voter data theft
The Election Commission of India (ECI), on November 25, had ordered the immediate suspension of Rangappa and Srinivas in connection with the voter data collection case
The Karnataka government withdrew the suspension order of two IAS officers involved in the alleged voter data theft by a private firm, officials said on Saturday.
The government on Friday withdrew the suspension of BBMP special commissioner S Rangappa and Bengaluru Urban district deputy commissioner K Srinivas and issued an order allocating the two officers to other posts.
Srinivas has been appointed as the managing director at Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Ltd., Bengaluru, and Rangappa has been posted as the executive director of Karnataka State Minerals Corporation Limited, Bengaluru, the order stated.
The Election Commission of India (ECI), on November 25, had ordered the immediate suspension of Rangappa and Srinivas in connection with the voter data collection case.
“S. Rangappa, Additional District Election Officer (ADEO), BBMP, (Central) in charge of 162 Shivajinagar and 169 Chickpet constituencies and K. Srinivas, additional district election officer cum-deputy commissioner Bengaluru Urban, in charge of 174 Mahadevapura constituency are directed to be immediately placed under suspension and a departmental enquiry be instituted against them,” the ECI order read.
The poll panel directed a 100% check of the deletions and additions in the electoral rolls after January 1, 2022, in the three constituencies of Shivajinagar, Chickpet and Mahadevapura.
The ECI had also ordered a departmental enquiry against Rangappa, who was also serving as an additional district election officer, BBMP (central) in charge of Shivajinagar and Chickpet assembly constituencies and K Srinivas, who was also serving as an additional district election officer in charge of Mahadevapura assembly.
The poll panel took this decision after receiving several complaints against NGO Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust, which has been accused of collecting personal information about voters, with its members posing as government officials in some cases.
The BBMP had entrusted Chilume with the task of conducting house-to-house surveys to create awareness of the revision of the electoral rolls. The firm, however, allegedly collected personal details, including caste, education, mother tongue, Aadhaar and other details.
On November 18, the head of the NGO, Krishnappa Ravikumar, was arrested along with other employees, including the NGO director Renuka Prasad, HR executive Dharmesh and project executive Prajwal.
On November 27, four BBMP officials were arrested on the charges of providing fake ID cards to representatives of NGO Chilume. The Halasuru Gate police arrested revenue officers (ROs) Chandrashekar K (Mahadevapura), Suhail Ahmed (Shivajinagar) and Bheemashankar (Chickpet) and assistant revenue officer (AR) Mahesh (RR Nagar).
After the issue surfaced, the Election Commission ordered an audit of the voter’s list, and extended the period of claims and objections to the electoral roll under Special Summary Revision by 15 days till December 24, 2022.
The Congress, last month, accused the BJP government of permitting the NGO Chilume to collect voter data like caste, gender, mobile number etc. Congress also accused Chilume of sharing this data with political parties.
The Congress alleged that 2.7 million names were deleted and 1.1 million voters added to the voter lists of the three assembly constituencies. It further said NGO Chilume hired many private people who were given fake identity cards impersonating booth-level officers (BLOs) of BBMP.
The Congress also knocked on the Election Commission doors seeking action against chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, officials and employees of BBMP and the government involved in the scam.
However, the BJP rejected the claims and said Chilume was operating even during the Siddaramaiah government. Bommai said that the state government is carrying out an impartial probe into the charges.
He added that the government is impartially probing the controversy “and any officer or organisation or agency found guilty will be punished”.
