Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today claimed that a Congress probe had found massive voter fraud in a Karnataka Assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and accused the Election Commission of colluding with the ruling BJP to steal election. The allegations drew a sharp response as the Karnataka election body dared Mr Gandhi to take an oath and submit a declaration that he had found irregularities in the voter list or withdraw his “fabricated evidence”.
The reversal of the INDIA bloc’s poll fortunes in the Maharashtra Assembly election just months after their strong show in the general election showed “something was not right”, Mr Gandhi said. The INDIA Bloc, which won 30 out of 48 Maharashtra seats in the Lok Sabha polls last year, could not even cross the 50 mark in the state polls just five months later.
“BJP does not suffer from anti-incumbency. Opinion polls suggested something, but the results were the opposite. Examples are Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. An ambience was created to explain the factors that led to the win: Ladli Behna, Pulwama, (Operation) Sindoor, narrative creation,” he said.
He said the Election Commission’s “choreographed schedule” for Assembly polls deepened the suspicion. “In Maharashtra, more voters were added in five months than in five years. In the Lok Sabha (election), our alliance wins. We face a drubbing in the Assembly polls. One crore new voters cast their votes in the Assembly polls. The Election Commission cites brisk voting at 5.30 pm. Our booth agents say no such brisk voting happened. Maharashtra was the first time we saw something was wrong,” he said. Mr Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission, instead of answering the Opposition’s questions, evaded replies. He said the poll body refused to provide digital voter rolls for them to check.
The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said their investigation focused on the Mahadevapura Assembly seat in Karnataka. “Our internal polling told us we would win 16 (Lok Sabha) seats in Karnataka, we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We chose one Lok Sabha, and our team decided we could only focus on one Vidhan Sabha (seat). So we focused on Mahadevapura.
“Total votes polled in the (Bangalore Central) Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakh. The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. Then, we looked at Mahadevapura, where Congress got 1,15,586 votes and BJP 2,29,632. Congress won all Vidhan Sabhas, but this one. This seat won them the election.”
“We found 1,00,250 stolen votes. Stolen in five different ways: duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, bulk voters in a single address. But when we go there, no record of those people living there. One family living in that house,” Mr Gandhi alleged.
Targeting the Election Commission, Mr Gandhi said, “They’re not in the business of protecting democracy anymore, they’re helping dismantle it. The umpire is on the other team. The judiciary needs to get involved in this because the democracy that we love so much does not exist.”
As Mr Gandhi’s press briefing was on, the office of Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer asked the Congress leader to submit a declaration seeking an investigation into the state’s electoral roll.
“As you are aware, the electoral rolls are prepared in a transparent manner, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 and the Instructions issued by the Election Commission of India from time to time. As far as the conduct of elections is concerned, election results can be questioned only by a way of Election Petition before Hon’ble High Court,” the poll body said in a notification.
Sources in the Election Commission said the Karnataka poll office expects Mr Gandhi’s declaration by this evening. “Rahul Gandhi should be firm in signing this oath today and tweet it on his handle as well. If not, then he should withdraw his fabricated evidence,” a source said.
The oath reads, “I, Rahul Gandhi, Member of Parliament, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath that the statement I am about to make under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, concerning: Name of person(s): [Whose name is proposed for inclusion/exclusion] Part No.: [Part number of electoral roll] Serial No.: [Serial number in the electoral roll, if available] is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.”
“I am aware that making a false declaration in connection with electoral rolls is punishable under Section 31 of the RP Act, 1950. I also understand that giving false evidence is punishable under Sections 227 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita, 2023. I further declare that, although I am not/ I am an elector of the said constituency, I have personal knowledge relevant to this case and am making this statement voluntarily,” the oath adds.
Sources from the poll body also said that Mr Gandhi is strengthening the process of Special Intensive Revision, a voter list review that has sparked protests by the Opposition. “He is supporting our exercise in Bihar by talking about fake voters,” a source said.
Slamming Mr Gandhi for his fresh charge against the poll body, veteran BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told news agency ANI, “It has become Rahul Gandhi’s habit to make baseless allegations, face defamation cases and then apologise.”
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Mr Gandhi has “completely lost his cool” after being out of power. “The ideologically hollow Congress party is systematically attacking constitutional institutions. The possibility of a big conspiracy against the Indian democracy and constitution behind this well-planned trickery cannot be ruled out. Because the history of his family is also filled with the dark chapter of ‘Emergency’,” he said.
“In democracy, the decision of the people is universally accepted, and by attacking the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi is insulting the wise decision of the people. Where was Rahul Gandhi when the Election Commission invited every party to lodge a complaint regarding SIR in Bihar, then neither Congress nor any party of the INDI alliance went to the Election Commission,” Mr Pradhan said. “This hypocrisy will not work now that the Election Commission is right on victory and biased on defeat! Rahul Gandhi will have to understand that the victory of his family is not the definition of democracy. Now the people of Bihar are also going to give a befitting reply to such opponents of democracy and (the) Constitution,” the minister said.
