Karnataka CM Says Rahul Gandhi Has Credible Information About Voter Fraud In Karnataka

By Anil Gejji

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi has proof of the alleged voter fraud in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka held last year.

Speaking to reporters here Siddaramaiah said that Rahul Gandhi has got proof of vote theft in Rajajinagar and Mahadevapura assembly constituencies in Bengaluru.

"Rahul Gandhi has credible evidence of voter fraud in the assembly constituencies in Mahadevapura and Rajajinagar during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. To highlight this serious issue, he will lead a protest in Bengaluru on August 5 and meet the Chief Electoral Officer in this connection," Siddaramaiah said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the KPCC President, said that Rahul will hold a protest at Freedom Park on August 5, following which he will submit a memorandum to the Election Commission.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had planned to take out a huge padayatra from Mahadevapura assembly constituency in the city to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer. But following apprehensions by people about the disruptions the padayatra will cause to the traffic movement on a weekday and the High Court’s direction to the State Government to ban padayatra and protests on busy roads of Bengaluru forced the party to revisit its decision.

“Keeping in mind the rules framed by our own Government and the Court’s direction, we have decided to hold a protest at Freedom Park. We have asked party leaders and workers and representatives of all blocks of party from all over the state to participate in the protest,” Shivakumar said.

Rahul Gandhi, who has been locked horns with the Election Commission of India ever since the Maharashtra assembly elections, had recently alleged that a large-scale vote-theft took place in Karnataka during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claimed his party has gathered proof of the same.

"We have studied the voter list of one of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka, and we got a 100% proof of vote-theft. I will place it before the ECI in black and white," Rahul had said while speaking to reporters outside Parliament in Delhi.

Describing the protest as a drama, Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra accused the Congress of trying to undermine democratic institutions besides creating doubts about the conduct of the Election Commission. “If we can manipulate the elections and the Election Commission, do you people (Congress) think we would be sitting in the opposition?” he asked. Some BJP leaders sought to know why Congress leaders did not file objections immediately after the elections if they felt voter lists were manipulated.

“We did file objections, but the Election Commission did not accept them. Our party candidate from Mahadevapura Nagesh and his son showed the documents (about voter fraud). Even in the Gandhinagar constituency represented by Health Minister Dinesh Gundurao, around seven thousand voters have been added, “ Shivakumar said.

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