Bengaluru: Karnataka State Assembly LoP and BJP leader R Ashoka on Wednesday alleged a Rs 19-crore ‘scam’ in the printing of 90 lakh State Voter Identity Cards for the GBA elections and demanded a CBI probe.
He claimed the cards were ordered after the Election Commission of India announced the SIR of electoral rolls.
The BJP leader alleged that the State Election Commission awarded the contract on a single-tender basis in violation of prescribed procedures, without fresh household verification or photographs. He said the cards were now lying unused at corporation offices.
“The state government has printed 90 lakh cards, but there are only around 59 to 60 lakh voters now. Where are the remaining 30 to 31 lakh people for whom you printed cards? Who are they? To whom are you going to distribute them?” Ashoka asked at a press conference in Bengaluru.
He said the Special Intensive Revision was announced on May 14, 2026, the tender for printing the cards was called the next day and the work order was issued on May 29. The project was worth around Rs 19 crore,” he said.
Ashoka alleged that the tender violated Finance Department rules and that the cards were printed using voter data from the previous Lok Sabha election.
He said the exercise wasted public money and questioned why cards were printed before the electoral rolls were revised. The revised rolls now have around 59.97 lakh voters in Bengaluru, against the 90 lakh cards printed, he claimed.
“This is a major scam involving the loot of public money,” he said, demanding that the government disclose where the cards were stored, who authorised the tender and how the expenditure was approved.
Accusing the Congress government of preparing to create bogus voter entries to influence the Greater Bengaluru Authority elections, Ashoka alleged: “You keep accusing others of vote theft and bogus voting. But you are the ones stealing votes. You are the vote thieves.”
The BJP leader challenged Chief Minister D K Shivakumar to identify and produce the voters for whom the additional cards were printed. He demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to verify the electoral rolls and a CBI investigation into the tendering process, the printing of the cards and the role of the government and election authorities.
Ashoka said the State Election Commission had issued a gazette notification and framed rules for the voter identity cards, but questioned the legality of the process. He asked whether the state body could issue a separate identity card when the Election Commission of India already provided Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs).
He accused the Congress of diverting attention from the alleged irregularities by objecting to the SIR. Referring to a proposed rally in Delhi on November 1, Ashoka said Congress leaders should celebrate Kannada Rajyotsava instead of protesting against the SIR.
Ashoka also referred to the alleged Rs 133-crore garbage tender scam he had raised earlier. He said he had written to the CM seeking cancellation of the tender and a Lokayukta investigation.
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