Fake voter IDs: BJP refutes Nanjamari's claims

In the wake of the row over the seizure of thousands of fake voter IDs from a flat here, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday refuted the flat owner Manjula Nanjamari's comments where she linked herself to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Speaking at a press conference here, when questioned about the remarks made by Nanjamari, he said, "That is wrong. That is utter falsehood and an attempt to save the Congress. She never campaigned with us, last ten years she has not been associated with the party."

He also compared the alleged scam with United States of America's Watergate scandal.

Up to 9,746 voter ID cards were found from a Bengaluru flat last night, following which BJP had accused Congress of orchestrating the racket to gain an advantage in the upcoming state assembly polls.

In return, Congress has claimed that the flat belongs to a BJP-linked person.

"Today, we are saying that whatever has been revealed in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar, the nation is in a state of shock. Never this has happened. There was Watergate in America, even that seems small, such is the scale of this scam, which is why we ask for the immediate countermanding of this election," said Javadekar, who was flanked by Union minister Sadananda Gowda and senior BJP leader Sambit Patra at the press conference.

Gowda, the Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation, also challenged Nanjamari's links with his party by claiming that Rakesh, nephew of Nanjamari, who was alleged to be the tenant of the flat when the fake voter IDs were seized, contested in 2015 municipal elections on BJP ticket, and Nanjamari had worked in opposition to Rakesh.

He also mentioned that his party has three primary demands following the incident, the first of which remains to be the immediate countermanding in light of the 'organised attack against democracy'.

The second demand he mentioned was the arrest of Nanjamari, the owner of the house so that proper investigations can be conducted, and thirdly a cyber and forensic evaluation should be conducted.