Hassan: Former minister, A. Manju, who has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party from Hassan, on Tuesday demanded that an FIR be registered against public works minister, H.D. Revanna for staying longer than neccessary at polling booth 244 in Paduvalahippe, Holenarsipura taluk on April 18, polling day.
The BJP has alleged that Mr Revanna had rigged polling at the booth in favour of his son, Prajwal, who has been fielded by the Janata Dal (Secular) from Hassan.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Manju said that merely suspending the polling officers for dereliction of duty at the polling station was not enough and a FIR had to be filed against Mr Revanna for his presence there when some of his supporters allegedly barged in to do proxy voting.
“Why is there no action against Revanna for instigating his supporters to vote at polling booth 244?,” Mr Manju demanded, wondering why Deputy Commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis had acted against the polling officers, but not the minister.
The BJP leader claimed that the CCTV footage examined by the Deputy Commissioner had established Mr Revanna's role in the proxy voting at the booth and alleged that the voting picked up pace in Holenarsipura during the last few hours of polling only due to rigging.
“How can the voting percentage increase drastically in booths where the BJP did not have agents?” he asked, urging Ms Priyanka Mary Francis to direct the police officers to book Mr Revanna as well.
