By Gururaj A Paniyadi

Copyright deccanchronicle

Kalaburagi: The Karnataka government’s move to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged unlawful deletion of voters in Aland constituency of Kalaburagi district has evoked contrasting reactions — with Congress MLA BR Patil hailing it as a step towards revealing the truth, while the BJP has dismissed it as yet another political gimmick by the ruling party.On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi, during a press conference in New Delhi attended by Patil, alleged a concerted attempt to delete the names of over 6,000 voters in Aland during the 2023 Assembly elections — an attempt the Congress claimed to have prevented.“I welcome the government’s decision. The SIT will help identify those behind the deletion and those involved in it,” Patil told Deccan Chronicle. “A special team can conduct a speedy probe, unlike routine inquiries that often drag on,” Patil said. He added, “We hope the Election Commission will cooperate in this.”The BJP, however, expressed skepticism over the move. State BJP general secretary P. Rajeev said Congress was only trying to spin a political narrative.“Remember the 40 percent commission probe? What happened to it? SIT was formed in connection to the Dharmasthala case. Without checking the background of the complainant and complaint the SIT started working,” he said. He added that these exercises are conducted without giving real solutions.Rajeev further argued that before launching a full-fledged investigation, the SIT must first check the background and ensure there is no ploy in the complaint and then continue. “These commissions and SITs are funded by taxpayers’ money, yet they are often used as political gimmicks rather than for delivering real solutions,” he added.Congress has alleged that the Election Commission ignored 18 requests for information from the Karnataka CID during its probe. It remains to be seen how the newly formed state-level SIT will address this. With the SIT being granted police station powers for the Karnataka state jurisdiction, all eyes are now on the SIT to see how quickly and effectively it will function and deliver results.The order issued on September 20 stated that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by CID DGP BK Singh will also include IPS officers Saidulu Adavat, SP, CCD, CID, Bengaluru, and Shubhanvita, SP, SED, CID, Bengaluru, as members.The Special Investigation Team has been granted police station powers for the Karnataka state jurisdiction under Section 2(u) of the BNSS.The Director General and Inspector General of Police (DGP & IGP) is authorised to transfer all related criminal cases registered, or that would be registered, in other police stations across the state to this SIT and provide any additional officers or staff required for the investigation.