The seizure of  9742 voter ID’s from an apartment this week exposed the dark underbelly of the election system. It brought to light the existence of Voter ID syndicates which operate out of every urban constituency , where Vote ID agents do bulk deals in “Cash for Vote”. The process in political lingo is called “Slum Booking” where a Voter ID agent negotiates bulk Vote deals in lieu of a payment.  What has shocked the people and the Election Commission is the syndicated approach in “Voter management” by these “Voter ID agents” and political parties.

The drama that unfolded over the blame game between the BJP and the Congress on seizure of these 9548 Voter ID cards flashed on TV screens across the country. Both the major parties Congress and BJP traded charges. Each tried to shift the blame to the other for being behind the syndicate of “Voter ID agents”.

The incident exposed that poll management has become a system which not just maps the profiles of the voters in the constituency but also to the extent that it encroached into privacy of the voters , demolishing the entire essence of the democracy.

The sequence of events unfolded on Tuesday , 8^th May afternoon , when a group of party workers of the BJP candidate from Rajarajeshwari Nagar  in North Bengaluru  stormed an apartment complex in Jalahalli area and found these 9548 Voter ID’s  , along with nearly one lac registration forms apart from several laptops , photocopiers  etc. The  scuffles and the drama that ensued saw the BJP workers blaming the operators being linked to the Congress party candidate Muniratna.

What became embarrassing by midnight was the fact that the Voter ID card syndicate was being run by the adopted son of a BJP ex-corporator . The BJP quickly denied any linkages with her, but she insisted on being a true BJP worker and claimed to continue working for the party.  The BJP and Congress played out a high intensity midnight drama of press conferences till 2 am and several representations to the Election Commission. By Thursday , two FIR’s had been filed including on Muniratna the sitting MLA from the Congress party.

In the political muddle, the election commission which swung into action went through the seized voter ID cards and prima facie found them to be genuine. A sample check over three days of over 800 of the 9742 seized cards showed that these cards were pledged by the voters in return for a cash or gift.

While distribution of cash in urban areas to voters by political workers has become a norm , this kind of “booking “of voters in advance by a political agent  seems to be the new normal. The election commission, in a notice, said that voting for the constituency will now be held on May 28 and the counting of votes will take place on May 31. The announcement was made just a day before the rest of the state chooses its next government.

The commission said that ever since the dates were announced, there had been several complaints regarding the distribution of cash and gift items in the constituency.

Even in midst of the blame game, the voters are left curious on what the truth is in the high intensity drama. The Sunday Guardian probed the matter to discover the dark underbelly of the political system. What also comes to light that it is not an isolated case of “Vote Booking” by parties in this constituencies alone but the rot has spread to nearly every constituency. The fact was corroborated as on Friday 11^th May when, another BJP worker Mrs Nagarathanamma  in Shivaji Nagar constituency was arrested by police for keeping in control 642 voter ID’s which were recovered from her .

The  Sunday Guardian investigation showed that the system which has become a trend in the last few polls, started after the Election Commission crackdown in recent polls on cash and liquor distribution had made it tough for the parties to “buy” votes. Several local leaders had over the years mastered the art of collecting a bunch of voter ID’s ranging from 100-200 from each booth and then negotiate a price with the parties. Even though these  political workers belong to any particular party they negotiate with candidates of all the key contestants . The Bulk rate for a set of 200 Votes ranges between Rs 4-6 lacs. The Voter ID agents are usually not averse to strike a deal with any candidate and settle for the one who generally pays up highest.

In most cases the Voter ID agents  register people from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu who turn up a night before the polls and then cast their vote.

The Sunday Guardian learns that even in the RR Nagar case it was the fall out of a deal between the Voter ID agent Rakesh  , who had unsuccessfully contested the Corporation elections and the BJP which led to the incident getting exposed.

Influencing the voters by cash and kind has become a major challenge . Despite the deployment of over 2250 check posts and 1540 flying squads , cash and gifts continue to flow. Till Friday , the Election Commission had seized Rs 67.36 crores in cash and over 154.52 crores worth of Gold , Gifts and liquor etc.  Interestingly many urban voters that Sunday Guardian spoke to are now no longer averse to the concept of receiving cash or gifts from candidates.  A young voter from R R Nagar  Raghav  Gowda (name changed) told The Sunday Guardian, “Elections are the only time when politicians open their purses , why not w take it from them. After all they spend  crores of Rupees which is actually tax payers money”.

The Election Commission has ordered a probe into the incident which is likely to throw more light into the case , but after the initial blame game all the political parties have maintained a stoic silence in the matter.  It may be a while before the Police probe and the Election Commission are able to bring out the truth , but in the interim the voters of R R Nagar will now have to wait till 28^th May to cast their votes.