Bengaluru, 11 October

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Sunday warned that the party would lay siege to police stations and district SP offices if the state government continued registering FIRs against party workers for submitting Form-7 under the SIR of electoral rolls.

Speaking to reporters after a BJP core committee meeting held in the presence of state co-in-charge Kasam Venkatesh, Vijayendra alleged that the Congress government was creating confusion over SIR Form-7 and misusing the police machinery by registering FIRs against BJP workers who had submitted the forms in accordance with Election Commission rules.

He said the Karnataka High Court had also pulled up the state government over the issue.

"Despite this, if the government continues to register FIRs against BJP workers, the party will not remain silent," he said.

The BJP chief was referring to criminal cases registered at various police stations across the state against individuals, particularly BJP workers and sympathisers, accusing them of filing fake Form-7s targeting certain sections of society.

Form-7 is a voter application form for objection to the proposed inclusion/ deletion of a name in the existing electoral roll.

On the forthcoming Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections, Vijayendra said some decisions related to reservation categories appeared to have been made to favour the ruling party.

On alleged irregularities in Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) recruitment, Vijayendra said the BJP's position was clear: those found guilty should face stringent legal action, irrespective of their position.