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Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) deputy spokesperson Anand Kumar MS has raised objections against the appointment of IAS officer Tushar Girinath as Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department and assigning him additional responsibilities in the Home Department. In a letter to Congress Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, Anand Kumar MS complained against Tushar Girinath, accusing him of willfully handing over the responsibility of election surveys to the “BJP-directed Chilume Educational, Cultural and Rural Development Trust.” Tushar Girinath was the Commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike at the time.
In 2022, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the municipal corporation of Bengaluru, granted Chilume Trust permission to conduct voter awareness campaigns in all 28 constituencies in Bengaluru. An investigation by The News Minute and Pratidhwani showed that Chilume’s agents, posing as Booth Level Officers, gathered information like Aadhaar numbers, phone numbers, caste, and political preferences. This data was then uploaded to a private app, raising significant concerns about privacy, electoral integrity, and potential political misuse.
The Congress party, with Rahul Gandhi at the helm, has conducted a series of press conferences in the recent past, outlining irregularities in voter registrations, additions and deletions in voter rolls, etc. Rahul Gandhi has also alleged that several changes made to the rolls in several parts of the country, including Bengaluru and Aland in Kalaburagi district, were manipulated and resulted in ‘vote theft’.
The Congress-led government in Karnataka has now appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to specifically look into vote theft charges in Aland Assembly constituency and elsewhere.
In his letter, Anand said, “During the management of this project, serious irregularities came to light, including voter manipulation, deliberate neglect of Congress voters at the booth level, misuse of information, lack of transparency, and other grave administrative lapses.”
Anand has also sought an inquiry into alleged vote manipulation during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He pointed out that despite Congress being in power in Karnataka, “the appointment of Tushar Girinath as Additional Chief Secretary of the Urban Development Department and assigning him additional responsibilities in the Home Department has caused public concern and suspicion.”
The Congress has already filed two complaints before the Election Commission of India on Tushar Girinath’s role in handing over responsibilities to Chilume Trust.