Over 9000 voter IDs found in Bengaluru apartment in midnight drama, Election Commission orders probe | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Over 9000 voter IDs found in Bengaluru apartment in midnight drama, Election Commission orders probe

Hindustan Times, Bengaluru | By
May 09, 2018 10:14 AM IST

The recovery was made during a surprise visit to Parkview Apartment in Jalahalli area, which belongs to Manjula Nanjamuri and was allegedly rented to a person named Rakesh. Officials said the voter ID cards were kept neatly in small bundles wrapped in paper with some names and phones on the paper.

The Election Commission of India filed a first information report (FIR) early on Wednesday after over 9,000 voter ID cards and counterfoils were found in an apartment in Bengaluru’s Jalahalli area ahead of the May 12 assembly polls, sparking off a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Huge number of voter ID cards found at an apartment in Jalahalli area.(ANI Photo)
Huge number of voter ID cards found at an apartment in Jalahalli area.(ANI Photo)

“An FIR is being registered after nearly 9,746 voter cards were found in a flat in Rajarajeshwari Nagar constituency along with around one lakh counterfoils resembling acknowledgement slips used for addition of names into electoral rolls,” the state’s chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar told reporters late on Tuesday.

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Kumar said he went to the flat owned by a person called Manjula Nanjamuri after media reports and a decision would be taken after an investigation.

“... We found 9,746 EPIC photo identity cards wrapped in small bundles bearing names, addresses and phone numbers. We have found five laptops which have photographs of a candidate,” he said.

Kumar said as per the preliminary verification the ID cards are of actual electors and appear to be genuine. He, however, added that the significance of the counterfoils can only be verified after due investigation.

One printer and two large steel trunks with counterfoils strips resembling acknowledgement slips of Form 6 used for new addition of names onto the electoral rolls were also recovered from the apartment during the raid.

“These may be numbering around a lakh. There is a need for further verification and inquiry. These have photographs and a printed number in magenta colour which is different than the officially available Form 6 which has no printed number,” Kumar said.

“Further investigation will be conducted into the matter and will be closely monitored by the EC,” he said.

Both the Congress and the BJP levelled charges against each other over the seizures.

Union ministers Ananth Kumar and Prakash Javadekar said the BJP suspected senior Congress leaders of being involved in the incident.

“We demand that the ECI countermand the elections. Munirathna Naidu, the RR Nagar Congress candidate, who says he is inspired by chief minister Siddaramaiah, was behind this,” minister Kumar said.

However, in a rebuttal to the BJP’s charges, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the opposition party had staged the episode to divert attention.

“Apartment No 115 from where the ID cards were recovered belonged to a BJP corporator, Nanjamuri. The BJP leadership is lying and trying to disassociate itself from its ex-corporator Manjula,” he said.

There are 435,439 electors in Raja Rajeshwari Nagar constituency with an Elector Population (EP) ratio of 75:43. During the last Special Summary Revision, 25,825 additions were made and 19,012 additions were done during Continuous Updation and there has been a deletion of 8,817 voters.

(With agency inputs)

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