Congress workers in Bengaluru have accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of distributing pamphlets of party leaders during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and said such activities would “affect public confidence in the neutrality of the electoral machinery”.
According to Congress workers, BJP’s Booth Level Agents were found distributing pamphlets with images of BJP leaders in the Jayanagar area. The pamphlets had pictures of leaders including Bengaluru South MP Tejsasvi Surya, Jayanagar MLA CK Ramamurthy, and former Jayanagar corporator Govind Naidu.
Booth Level Agents (BLAs) have been deputed by political parties to accompany Election Commission officials during the SIR exercise. However, they are not allowed to distribute pamphlets.
Former Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy and Congress worker S Mayur filed complaints with the local revenue officials, and the Tilaknagar and JP Nagar police stations, alleging political interference in the SIR process. They are yet to file a complaint with the Election commission of India (ECI).
In the complaint, Mayur said, “The pamphlets, in my understanding, contain information that is likely to mislead members of the public into believing that the official SIR process is being facilitated by the above-mentioned political leaders. The SIR process is an official government exercise conducted by the ECI through its authorised officers and should remain free from any political influence or publicity.”
BJP leaders too have hit out at the Congress, accusing Chamarajpet MLA BZ Zameer Ahmed of distributing publicity material during the SIR exercise.
