Nearly 10,000 voter IDs found in Bengaluru apartment, EC orders probe

TIL Desk/National/Bengaluru/ Nearly 10,000 voters ID cards were found at a rented apartment of a Congress lawmaker in North Bangalores R R Nagar area late on Tuesday night, leading to a probe by the Election Commission.

In the late night drama, 9,746 voter IDs and two trunks of ‘counter papers’ (similar to acknowledgement) were found at the apartment of Munirathna Congress MLA Manjula Nanjamari, following which Karnatakas Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar held a press conference and said that the the IDs appear to belong to slum-dwellers of the area.

An investigation is being conducted by the district electoral officer and three observers, Kumar said, adding that over one lakh chits that looked like counter foils of elections were found but not all are genuine. He said that the probe will ascertain the significance of the chits.

Highlighting the seriousness of the matter, the chief electoral officer further said that the number of voters in R R Nagar is “quite high” compared to the state average. “There are 4,35,439 voters in main rolls of RR Nagar. This poll has seen a rise of 44,837,” he said. The late night revelation sent Congress into a huddle with party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala addressing a press conference on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.