Karnataka Reviews Protest Venues Amid Voter Roll Row
Bengaluru, Oct 28: Karnataka's Minister Priyank Kharge said on Wednesday that the state government is reviewing activist suggestions to add more designated protest venues in Bengaluru and other parts of the state, and to drop some existing ones from the official list.
The minister told reporters that the government wants to ensure citizens can protest peacefully. However, he said officials must also protect the right of residents who are inconvenienced by demonstrations, and the goal is to keep these two interests in balance.
Kharge said the government has recently met a group of activists, who recommended further sites in Bengaluru and across the state. The proposals are under investigation, and the government will review the entire matter.
He noted that affidavits had been submitted to the High Court by all concerned parties, including civil rights groups. These filings will form part of the government's review process.
'The government has no desire to suppress the rights of citizens,' Kharge said. 'Everyone should have an opportunity to use their rights. But we also need to consider the rights of other citizens who are affected by protests. It is a sensitive balance, and we will keep working on it.'
The statement follows a row in Delhi after Jantar Mantar was dropped from the list of designated protest sites. Opposition leaders have criticised the move, saying that relocating protests will not diminish public anger or the demand for dissent.
Kharge has repeatedly criticised the Centre over the issue. Earlier, he accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of suppressing peaceful protests, claiming that denying permission at designated venues showed the Centre was worried about the Gen Z movement.
He also took aim at the BJP over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, arguing that the process favours the party in power at the Centre. According to him, the exercise could lead to the removal of names of people who oppose the BJP from voter lists.
Kharge alleged that about one crore people in Karnataka had been removed from the electoral rolls. The state government, he said, will investigate the circumstances in which these names were deleted.
He said the pattern of pre-printed Form-7 applications by BJP workers suggested an intention to exclude certain groups from voter lists. Citing the Chittapur assembly constituency, Kharge alleged that 40 Form-7 applications were fake and called it a conspiracy to manipulate the election process. He said the complaint had been filed by the Electoral Registration Officer and not by any individual.
Kharge also referred to Aland, claiming that 5,994 of the 6,018 forms examined were found to be fake. He further said 22,000 chargesheets had been filed, but a detailed account of these cases was not immediately available.
The minister said the state government would scrutinise voter lists and find out the reasons for alleged name deletions and other irregularities, warning that such practices affect the opposition's ability to contest elections on a level playing field.