Karnataka poll body serves notice to Rahul Gandhi on ‘vote chori’ allegations

The Karnataka State Election Commission has issued a formal notice to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, asking him to provide documentary evidence backing his claim of over one lakh bogus votes cast in the Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency during the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Election Commission has issued a notice to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, asking him to provide documentary evidence for his allegation that over one lakh bogus votes were cast in the Mahadevpura Assembly Constituency during the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul Gandhi had made the claim at a press conference in New Delhi on August 7, where he alleged large-scale electoral malpractice and released documents purportedly supporting his charges. He stated that the records were sourced from the Election Commission of India’s data and even cited examples, including one voter, Shakun Rani, whom he claimed had voted twice.

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However, a preliminary inquiry by the state election office revealed that Shakun Rani had cast her vote only once, contradicting Gandhi’s assertion. The investigation also found that the “ticked” mark document he presented was not an official record provided by the polling booth officer.

The notice has asked Rahul Gandhi to submit authentic documents substantiating his claims that Shakun Rani or any other voter cast multiple votes. The commission said that such evidence was necessary for it to conduct a detailed investigation.

During his press briefing, Rahul Gandhi alleged that in the last Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 16 seats in Karnataka while the Congress secured nine. He said Congress investigated seven constituencies it narrowly lost, focusing on Bengaluru Central, where the BJP received 2,29,632 votes compared to Congress’s 1,15,586, a winning margin of 1,14,046 votes. According to Gandhi, these figures included 11,965 fake voters, 40,009 votes with bogus addresses, 10,452 votes linked to a single address, 4,132 votes without photographs, and 33,692 votes linked to misuse of Form 6.

Specifically, he claimed that in Mahadevpura alone, which falls under Bengaluru Central 1,00,250 out of 6.5 lakh votes cast were fraudulent. The Election Commission’s demand for evidence now puts the onus on Gandhi to substantiate his allegations, a move that could intensify the political debate in Karnataka.