BENGALURU, April 3 -- A controversy regarding allegations of duplicate voter registrations triggered a political exchange between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Bagalkot bypoll.

Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar alleged that in certain wards of Bagalkot city, students from outside had been included in the local voter list while also retaining their votes in their native places. He said instructions had been issued to file a complaint with the deputy commissioner and that a separate team had been formed to identify such cases.

"I have instructed that a complaint be filed with the deputy commissioner regarding this matter. We have set up a separate team to identify those who have dual votes. We are also ...