Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 27 : Former BJP National General Secretary and MLC CT Ravi on Thursday alleged that the Congress engineered cross-voting in the Legislative Council elections through "unethical means."
Speaking to reporters at the state BJP office, Jagannath Bhavan, after submitting the internal inquiry report on cross-voting to state president BY Vijayendra, Ravi said, "Congress leaders should not think that cross-voting happened out of loyalty to Congress."
"When cross-voting happens in other states, Congress leaders lecture about democratic values being violated. But now, they have devalued democracy through cross-voting. Henceforth, they have no moral right to question cross-voting," he said.
"The report mentions what precautions should have been taken and what precautions were not taken during the election. Since this is an internal inquiry, I cannot share more details," Ravi added.
He said a three-member committee comprising former minister N. Mahesh, former general secretary and MLA Mahesh Tenginakai, and himself was formed to conduct the internal probe.
"The state president had directed us to complete the inquiry and submit the report at the earliest. After discussions, the three of us prepared a report mentioning only points agreed upon by all members."
"We listed those suspected of cross-voting based on inputs from the media and public domain and held discussions with them. We spoke to candidates and gathered their views. We also consulted JDS leaders, opposition leaders, chief whips, and journalists. Local information was collected and circumstantial details were obtained," Ravi said.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Karnataka BJP MLA Ashwath Narayan said that the party will take action against those found responsible for cross-voting in the Legislative Council elections, after the special committee submits its report.
The BJP has formed a three-member committee headed by MLC CT Ravi to probe the cross-voting.
While the BJP won two seats in the June 18 MLC polls, the BJP-JD(S) coalition was embarrassed as Congress secured five seats, with 16 votes more than expected.