Bengaluru, July 3 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Labour & Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, on Friday alleged that illegal birth certificates were being issued through cyber centres in Karnataka after the commencement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to intervene.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters, Jagannath Bhavan, in Bengaluru, Karandlaje alleged, “In Karnataka, birth certificates are being issued illegally through cyber centres. The issuance of such certificates has increased after the SIR process started. The Chief Minister has also said that permanent residence certificates would be issued. Those who were born and have lived here do not require such certificates. We have our homes and our names are already in the electoral rolls.”

The Union Minister claimed that the state government was attempting to issue residence certificates to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

“You are trying to issue residence certificates to illegal Bangladeshis and to those brought from places where the SIR exercise has not been conducted,” she alleged.

Karandlaje further alleged that the objective behind these actions was to influence future elections.

“The intention of the Chief Minister and the state government is to win the next election through illegal means. Therefore, the Election Commission should immediately intervene and take appropriate action,” she said.

Referring to the proposed elections to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), Karandlaje alleged that the state government was attempting to include illegal voters in the electoral rolls.

“You submitted the electoral rolls for the Greater Bengaluru Authority elections, and that process was accepted. Now, with the objective of winning the GBA elections, illegal voters are being added. A systematic conspiracy is underway to include voters from one particular community. The priority of this government appears to be adding minority voters to the electoral rolls,” Karandlaje further alleged.

“Does this government no longer require the votes of the majority community?” she asked.

The Union Minister also alleged irregularities in the implementation of the SIR exercise.

“It is not proper for Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to gather people in groups and conduct the SIR process. BLOs have not been given proper training. Mapping is not being carried out, and enumeration forms are merely being dropped at houses instead of following the prescribed procedure. BLOs are being subjected to pressure. The state government must immediately stop these illegal practices. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar should ensure that the process is carried out in accordance with the law,” she said.

She further claimed that minority leaders had, over the years, facilitated the entry of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into Karnataka and alleged that efforts were now being made to regularise them as residents and voters.

“There is a conspiracy to make illegal Bangladeshis residents of Karnataka and include them as voters. Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants living in different parts of the state are being added to the electoral rolls and regularised,” she alleged.

Karandlaje also claimed that following the Assembly elections in Bihar and West Bengal, several illegal Bangladeshi migrants had moved to Karnataka and that some of them had already been detected.

She alleged that Booth Level Officers were acting on the Chief Minister’s oral instructions and were adding illegal residents to the electoral rolls.

Defending the SIR exercise, Karandlaje said it was being conducted after nearly two decades to identify illegal voters, remove the names of deceased electors and improve the accuracy of electoral rolls.

She explained that in urban areas, many voters have their names registered in more than one place or continue to remain on electoral rolls despite relocating elsewhere, resulting in lower polling percentages.

“The SIR exercise is intended to remove such discrepancies and ensure that the electoral rolls are accurate,” she said.

Bengaluru South BJP district president and MLA C.K. Ramamurthy, Bengaluru North BJP district president S. Harish, and Bengaluru Central BJP district president Saptagiri Gowda were present at the press conference.

–IANS

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