Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK on Friday took a dig at the BJP, saying there was no reason to be “worried” over the use of paper ballots in local body polls. “This is Karnataka government’s decision – why is the BJP worried? The government has the authority to conduct local body elections; it is provided for in the law.”
He further said: “Even during their tenure, the same law existed. The law says elections can be held either by ballot paper or EVMs. Our government has decided to use ballot papers for the local body elections.”
On why the state was pushing for paper ballots, Shivakumar said: “We have investigated everything related to the Lok Sabha elections. I shall not discuss that matter now…The Central Election Commission, whether for state, Parliament, or Assembly elections – let them take whatever decision they want. The state government’s decision is only for the local body elections.”
Bengaluru: On State’ Govt’s recommendation to State Election Commission to hold the local body elections on ballot paper, Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar says, “This is Karnataka government’s decision – why is BJP worried..? The government has the authority to conduct local… pic.twitter.com/6HWfUsx8FH
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2025
What Did BJP Say?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed the Karnataka government’s decision to revert to ballot papers instead of electronic voting machines (EVMs) for the upcoming local body elections.
In a strongly worded statement on Friday, the state BJP claimed that the Congress-led government had “exposed itself” by pushing for ballot-based elections. “By deciding to replace EVM machines with ballot papers, the Congress has admitted that it came to power in Karnataka through electoral fraud,” the party alleged.
BJP state president and MLA BY Vijayendra took the attack further on social media. “If the Congress believes EVMs are fraudulent, then the 136 Congress MLAs who won the 2023 state polls using them should resign. The nine Congress MPs from Karnataka must also step down and recontest on ballot papers. Otherwise, they should admit they won through fraud,” he posted on X.
Vijayendra argued that it was Congress, not the BJP, that had a history of electoral malpractice. “The highest number of complaints about bogus voting, violence, and fraud were filed during ballot-paper elections. People have not forgotten how Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency after a court struck down her election, tainted by malpractice,” he said.
According to him, the Congress is “desperate after repeated defeats” and is now trying to revive old controversies to undermine faith in the system. “Rahul Gandhi has been making baseless claims on electoral fraud. To justify this, the Karnataka government is dragging the state back to the dark days of ballot papers,” he alleged.
“Interestingly, Home Minister Dr Parameshwara himself recently said: ‘In elections of the past, the ballot paper was used to cast votes. There were no EVMs then, only ballot papers. One or two people could cast all ballot votes then.’ At that time, there was booth capturing, and the boxes in which the votes were cast could be taken away,” Vijayendra posted.
Citing a past example, Vijayendra recalled the 1990s Davanagere election, where he claimed BJP ballot papers were “dumped in toilets” during a recount, leading to a Congress win. “This is exactly why Congress wants ballots back — so it can enable booth capturing and bogus voting,” he said.
The Karnataka government, however, has defended its move. Law Minister HK Patil announced the Cabinet’s decision on Thursday after a meeting at Vidhana Soudha. “The Cabinet has resolved to recommend legal amendments and new rules to ensure all upcoming local body elections are held through ballot papers instead of EVMs,” Patil was quoted as saying by The News Minute.
He added that the government will also push for corrections in the voters’ list. “There have been widespread complaints about discrepancies—names of non-existent voters being included and errors in the rolls. People’s trust in EVMs has been declining. In view of public sentiment, the Cabinet has decided to restore ballot-based voting,” the minister was quoted as saying.
The Cabinet has already approved amendments to laws and election rules to pave the way for the change.