Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: Congress approaches EC, says names missing from electoral rolls in state

The Congress approached the Election Commission and alleged that many people in Karnataka are unable to vote because their names are missing from electoral rolls, according to reports.

India Today reported that led by Roshan Baig, Shivajinagar constituency MLA on Monday, Congress alleged that most of the missing names belong to a minority community and their names were missing in minority-dominated areas.

Congress spokesperson Aiyshwarya Mahadev alleged, “This could be a ploy of the other party to take away what is seen as the Congress’ conventional vote bank.”

A Delhi-based NGO had previously told Deccan Herald that names of about 18 lakh Muslim voters are either missing from the recently updated voters’ list or they don’t have voter ID cards issued in their name for the Karnataka polls.

The Centre for Research and Debates in Development Policy told Deccan Herald that they have identified 16 Karnataka constituencies from which the names of 1.28 lakh voters are missing from the list. Based on the number, they are estimating that around 15 lakh would be missing from the 224 Karnataka constituencies.

Karnataka will go to polls on 12 May and the counting will take place on 15 May.