Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has hit out at the Election Commission after it issued a notice to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, asking him to submit supporting documents for his recent allegations of “vote theft.”
Shivakumar questioned the authority of the Election Commission in issuing such a notice. “Who are they to give notice? I have given them notice. We have the power to give notice. We have won the election legally. In a democracy, elections should be held legally,” he said according to news agency ANI.
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The response came after the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka issued a letter dated August 10, referring to Rahul Gandhi’s August 7 press conference where he alleged voter fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency. The CEO pointed out that Gandhi had claimed to possess documents sourced from the Election Commission’s records, including a case where a voter named Shakun Rani allegedly voted twice, as shown in a tick-marked list presented by a polling officer.
However, the CEO stated that a preliminary inquiry revealed that Shakun Rani denied voting more than once. It was also found that the document shown by Gandhi had not been issued by the polling officer, casting doubt on the authenticity of the evidence presented.
{{/usCountry}}However, the CEO stated that a preliminary inquiry revealed that Shakun Rani denied voting more than once. It was also found that the document shown by Gandhi had not been issued by the polling officer, casting doubt on the authenticity of the evidence presented.
{{/usCountry}}The election authorities have now asked Rahul Gandhi to furnish the documents backing his allegations so that a detailed investigation can be initiated.
At the August 7 press briefing, Gandhi cited an internal analysis and claimed the Congress was expecting to win 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka but ended up with only nine. He said the party looked into seven of those defeats and focused on Mahadevapura, where he claimed a "vote theft" of 100,250 votes had occurred.
“We found 100,250 votes stolen in five different ways—duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters registered at the same address. In one case, 50–60 voters were shown to reside in a building where only one family actually lives,” he alleged.
In response, the Election Commission of India on Saturday again urged Rahul Gandhi to either submit a formal declaration under relevant rules or apologise for making what it termed “false” allegations regarding the voter list.
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