BENGALURU: The Congress government in Karnataka has decided to revert to ballot papers for local body elections, a move that has prompted differing views within the party. On Tuesday, senior Congress leader D K Suresh questioned the necessity of the decision, saying he personally felt it “was not needed,” though he stressed that the final call rests with the party high command. Suresh, brother of deputy chief minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar, said, “We had gone a step ahead by using EVMs. Whether stepping back now is right or wrong has to be decided by the party high command.” He declined to elaborate further on the issue. The Karnataka Congress government had, in September last year, recommended to the State Election Commission (SEC) that future panchayat and urban local body elections be held using ballot papers instead of EVMs, citing concerns over declining public confidence in electronic voting. Karnataka State Election Commissioner G S Sangreshi on Monday announced that elections to the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) will take place after May 25 using ballot papers. Elections for zilla and taluk panchayats, scheduled later this year, will follow the same procedure. The opposition has slammed the decision. Assembly leader of the opposition R Ashoka called it “an absolute disgrace,” arguing that even government surveys confirm strong public trust in EVMs. “Reverting to paper ballots is not about fairness; it is about fear and political insecurity,” he said on social media, adding that Bengaluru, India’s technology capital and home to EVM manufacturer BEL, is being “dragged backwards under Congress rule.”(With agency inputs)
