Hassan: Hassan district minister KM Shivalingegowda on Friday said it was inappropriate to politicise NICE Road project and target chief minister DK Shivakumar over the issue.Addressing a news conference in Hassan, he said NICE Road project was initiated during the tenure of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda as chief minister. The project contributed to Bengaluru’s development and provided significant benefits to IT city. “If there were any irregularities, violations of law or breach of trust in the project, action should have been taken at that time. Those responsible should face legal consequences. There is no need to unnecessarily politicise the issue now,” he said.Questioning the timing of the allegations, Shivalingegowda pointed out that Union minister HD Kumaraswamy had served as chief minister twice, in 2006 and 2018. “If there were irregularities in the NICE project, why was it not cancelled or investigated during those tenures? The documents available today were also available then. Why raise the issue only now?” he asked.He alleged that attempts were being made to politically weaken Shivakumar, who, he said, has emerged as an influential leader in the state.The minister also accused BJP and Union govt of misusing Election Commission in the name of special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He explained that Form 6 is used for the inclusion of new voters, while Form 7 is meant for objections to or deletion of names from electoral rolls.“Thousands of Form 7 applications are allegedly being printed with the names of specific voters and submitted to taluk offices. These applications are then being routed through election officials to booth level officers,” he alleged.“How can elections be conducted fairly if 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 or even 10,000 votes are deleted in this manner?” he questioned.The minister alleged that applications seeking deletion of voters’ names were being submitted using forged signatures.
