Priyanka K., a voter from Yelahanka constituency, received a phone call from an unknown number, which was identified as ‘Election Commission of India’ by a caller identification app. When she answered, there was an automated message which asked her to indicate her voting preference.
“The message asked me to press 1 if I was voting for BJP, 2 for Congress and 3 for JD(S). It further stated that my choice would be kept confidential. However, there was no mention of any organisation in the message. I have two numbers and I got the same call a few days apart on both the numbers,” she said.
Just like her, many voters across the city are getting similar automated calls where they are being asked whom they would vote for. Not just that, breach of privacy and data have been a major concern this election season as many citizens are receiving multiple calls and messages from various political parties, media agencies, canvassers and unknown entities either asking for information about their voting or providing them information about a particular candidate or party.
The specificity of these calls and messages have caused angst amongst voters as the recorded messages usually include the name of the voter and their constituency. Some have observed that even though they are not registered as voters from a certain constituency yet (as they might have recently shifted homes), they are still getting calls from the canvassers of such constituencies.
“Though I was a resident of Indiranagar, I moved out of the State many years ago. Yet, I received a call (not automated) from an AAP canvasser. I felt like my privacy was violated as I am on a do-not-call list and I have no idea how my number was obtained by that worker. I was wondering if it could have been the telecom company and why there is no government supervision to keep these things from happening,” said Vishakh P., a businessman.
Voters have also received automated messages from BJP and Congress asking them to vote for particular candidates and in BJP’s case, sometimes also to re-elect Basavaraj Bommai. The pre-recorded call also asks the respondents to record a message, which they claim would be sent to Mr. Modi, some voters reported. The party is also making very targeted calls on specific issues.
“Hours after Congress president M. Mallikarjun Kharge called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a poisonous snake, I got a call in which the caller played a bit of Mr. Kharge’s speech and later a pre-recorded message asking if I would vote for someone who called the Prime Minister such names,” said Bharath A., a voter from Byatarayanapura constituency.
On Thursday, Lakshmanappa lodged a complaint at the Malleswaram police station stating that the leaked voters’ data was being used by political canvassers to influence the voters of Malleswaram constituency. He said that many people were receiving WhatsApp messages with voter details. Based on the complaint, the police filed an FIR against unknown persons under various sections of the IT Act and Representation of People Act. Further probe has been initiated into it.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Election Commission officials said that they were aware of such cases. “The usage of the name of Election Commission of India is concerning. We have forwarded the complaints we have received about this to the cyber team to investigate and trace the callers,” said Manoj Kumar Meena, Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka.
Tushar Giri Nath, Chief Commissioner, BBMP, also said that BBMP and the police were working together and taking action as and when complaints were coming in. “We request citizens to partner with us to stop such things by lodging a complaint with 1950 or by downloading the C-Vigil app,” he said. He added that over 2,500 complaints against various election code violations had been lodged on the app so far.
(With inputs from Imran Gowhar)
