Bengaluru
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath, who can be the Bengaluru City District Election Officer, stated there have been no instances of alleged digital bribes discovered within the metropolis thus far.
Mr. Giri Nath on Tuesday participated within the ‘Meet the Press’ occasion organised by the Press Club of Bangalore and answered a number of questions posed by journalists on the Karnataka meeting elections and preparations by the BBMP.
Answering a query by reporters on UPI funds of bribes to voters by candidates, he stated, “We have been continuously monitoring such digital bribes through UPI payments during the elections. We have been in touch with UPI payment companies and have told them to bring it to the notice of the BBMP if such suspicious transactions occur through UPI. These companies have also done dump analysis. However, so far in the city, we have not got any such cases.”
The Election Commission is monitoring the distribution of cash by means of wallets and on-line cost platforms. Earlier, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Meena had stated that the Commission is amassing knowledge on bulk switch of small quantities from financial institution accounts and analysing it.
Chilume not certified in any tender
Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Trust, which was concerned in an alleged voter knowledge theft case within the metropolis, has not certified in any BBMP tender, clarified Mr. Giri Nath.
After studies alleging that the blacklisted Chilume had participated in a number of tenders associated to the availability of stationery and different supplies for this election, BBMP Chief Commissioner stated that the NGO has not certified in any election-related tenders.
In December final yr, after the alleged voters’ knowledge theft by the Chilume got here to gentle, the BBMP had barred the NGO from service and procurement tender survey or campaigns of the civic physique.
In March 2018, permission was granted by the BBMP to the Chilume for house-to-house visits to create consciousness in direction of making on-line functions by way of the voters’ helpline cellular app.
On November 2 final yr, the BBMP revoked the belief’s permission to perform the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) marketing campaign after receiving a number of complaints from residents that the NGO was amassing private particulars whereas conducting door-to-door surveys by deputing field-level staff.
The belief has been accused of amassing the private data of voters, with its members posing as BBMP officers in some instances.
