H.K. Patil asking me to apologise over electoral rolls remarks is ridiculous, says Bommai
BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai has refused to apologise for saying Congress leader H.K. Patil’s name figures in three places in the electoral rolls of Gadag
BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai has refused to apologise for saying Congress leader H.K. Patil’s name figures in three places in the electoral rolls of Gadag district. “I have not insulted Mr. Patil. I have only stated the facts. I will not apologise. In fact, Mr. Patil asking me to apologise is ridiculous,” Mr. Bommai said in a release on Sunday. Earlier, Mr. Bommai said that the electoral rolls in Gadag district are full of errors.
He told reporters in Gadag on Friday that the voter list has Mr. Patil’s name in three places. Mr. Patil countered this by saying that they belong to three different persons with the same name. Bommai also said that Mr. Patil has influenced the preparation of the earlier rolls, to favour him and his party candidates electorally. Patil, meanwhile, denied this. “Mr. Bommai’s allegations are completely baseless. They are nothing but blatant lies far from truth.
They are malicious and are an attempt to politically assassinate my character,” Mr. Patil told reporters in Gadag on Saturday. “Such conspiracies are not new. My political opponents fielded one H.K. Patil against me in the Legislative Council polls some time ago,” he recalled. He demanded an unconditional public apology from Mr. Bommai. Bommai told reporters on Friday that there are large-scale irregularities in the district. “In Ron Assembly Constituency, names of 3,804 voters are registered in two-three places.
Similarly, in Gadag constituency, names of 2,365 voters are registered in more than one place. No effort is being made to remove these duplicates from the list,” he said. Patil refuted these allegations and said that the earlier revisions are in order and that the current SIR is being carried out as per rules. He denied allegations that he influenced the process.
The BriefWire