Karnataka Minister accuses Centre of hacking guarantee scheme portal

The ongoing clash between the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka over the implementation of guarantee schemes took a new turn as Karnataka Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi accused the Central government of hacking the Gruha Jyothi registration portal.

During a media interaction in Belagavi on Tuesday, Jarkiholi responded to allegations by Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi that the Congress had announced the guarantees without proper planning. Jarkiholi said, “We had planned. (But) our machine was hacked by the Centre, (due to which registrations for the scheme) stopped. Like how they hack EVMs, they have hacked this. That’s why it’s been delayed. What can we do?”

He further added that measures were being taken to repair the system that had allegedly been hacked by the Central government. The Gruha Jyothi scheme, which promises up to 200 units of free power for all households, is one of the five pre-poll assurances made by the Congress in Karnataka.

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Jarkiholi’s remarks came amid Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s continued criticism of the Central government, alleging that it has obstructed the procurement of rice for the Anna Bhagya scheme, another one of the five guarantees, by prohibiting the Food Corporation of India from selling grains to state governments.

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In response to Jarkiholi’s claims, Pralhad Joshi urged the Congress government to file a complaint with the cyber police if the server of the registration portal was indeed hacked. He dismissed the accusations as an excuse to delay the implementation of the guarantees. “You (Congress government) have not maintained the servers and have no intention (of fulfilling the guarantees). Therefore, you are trying to point fingers at the Centre for everything. If the server was hacked, you should file a complaint with the cybercrime police. This is a ridiculous statement not worth a response,” he said.