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The Karnataka State Election Commission countermanding elections to four constituencies at Byluru village under Sindigeri Gram Panchayat in Ballari district, where members were elected through “auction”, is perhaps only the tip of the iceberg. Many villagers and leaders admit that this practice is not uncommon.
An inquiry has revealed that some prominent people of Byluru had held a meeting on the premises of Eshwara temple and decided to elect 13 members unopposed in return for payment of ₹51,20,000 to the village deity.
Days prior to this incident, nine people were arrested for auctioning and choosing four members unopposed at Hosalli (EJ) in Sindhanur taluk. The arrests were made when video clips from the auction went viral on social media. According to sources in the village, resident planned auction to collect ₹10 lakh to develop the Devi temple which is in a dilapidated condition.
However, villagers The Hindu spoke to sought to know what was “illegal” in what was done. “We just wanted a good building for the temple,” said a villager.
At Bilaguli village under Ramanathapura Gram Panchayat in Arkalgud taluk, cases have been registered against 43 people on the charge of taking part in an auction for gram panchayat seats. Three seats of Bilaguli village were allegedly auctioned for an amount ranging from ₹3.5 lakh to ₹11 lakh at a meeting. A video clip of this meeting too had gone viral.
Deputy Commissioner R. Girish said that elections would be held here on December 22 since others had also filed nomination papers for the seats.
Asked if the candidates accused of taking part in the auction would be barred from contesting, the he said the allegation had to be proved in court.
According to Gururaj Patil, a leader of Grameena Coolikarmikara Sanghatane which has fielded over 2,500 candidates in different gram panchayats across the State, in many cases where people are “elected unopposed” auctions would have taken place though they go under the radar. Auctions take place either inside temples or behind closed doors with limited members, he said.
New modus operandi
According to Mallesh, an activist from Ballari, some of the temple committees are adopting another method which is essentially an auction but avoids legal complications. In such cases, the village temple committees allows some candidates to file nominations and later asks all others, except the one who gives the highest amount of money to the temple, to withdraw nomination papers.
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