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Congress to hold massive rally in city today against ‘voter fraud’
The protest will be led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. According to the party, the event is not only aimed at raising concerns about voter irregularities in Karnataka, but also intended to build momentum for a larger national campaign against what it describes as a threat to the democratic process
Bengaluru: The Congress party is gearing up for a massive rally in Bengaluru on Friday, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of large-scale voter fraud during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Called the ‘Vote Adhikar Rally’, the protest will begin at Freedom Park at 10.30am and is expected to draw over one lakh participants from across Karnataka. District leaders have been instructed to send at least 50 members each, including ministers, MLAs and even candidates who had lost the polls, people familiar with the matter said.
The protest will be led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. According to the party, the event is not only aimed at raising concerns about voter irregularities in Karnataka, but also intended to build momentum for a larger national campaign against what it describes as a threat to the democratic process.
Rahul Gandhi, addressing the media on Thursday, said the party’s internal assessment had indicated it would win 16 seats in the state, but it ended up with just nine. He cited the Bengaluru Central constituency, and in particular the Mahadevapura assembly segment, as a glaring example of what the party calls “vote theft”. According to Gandhi, although the Congress led in six of the seven assembly segments under Bengaluru Central, it lost in Mahadevapura by over 1.14 lakh votes.
The party claims the BJP secured 6,58,915 votes in Bengaluru Central, while the Congress polled 6,26,208 -- a margin of 32,707 votes. Gandhi said the voter list in Mahadevapura revealed suspicious patterns, including 80 voters registered at a single address and 46 unrelated people listed under another. He also alleged the presence of 11,965 duplicate voters and 40,009 entries linked to fake or invalid addresses.
“Karnataka will be the launchpad for our resistance. We will expose this fraud, street by street and booth by booth. The time for silence is over. The time to resist is now,” said Congress general secretary and Karnataka in charge Randeep Singh Surjewala. Accusing the Election Commission of failing in its duty, he said, “The Election Commission was created to be the guardian of free and fair elections. Let it not be the funeral director of Indian democracy.”
The party held a preparatory meeting on Wednesday, which saw the participation of chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, Surjewala and other senior leaders.
The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. State BJP president BY Vijayendra questioned the logic behind the Congress’s accusations. “If the BJP can manipulate and misuse the Election Commission, then how did Congress come to power in Karnataka with 136 MLAs? How did the Congress win by-elections for three MLA seats?” he said. Vijayendra also called the protest “totally unconstitutional”.
Although, the BJP had earlier announced a counter-protest for August 5, which was the original date of the Congress rally, it has not declared any programme for Friday.
In anticipation of large crowds and VVIP movement, the Bengaluru police have issued a traffic advisory for August 8. “In view of VVIP visit to Bengaluru city on 8 August, parking of all types of vehicles is prohibited on the following roads. Further, it is requested to avoid following roads and use alternative roads,” said Sahil Bagla, DCP Traffic (East Division). Commuters have been advised to avoid Old Airport Road, MG Road and Cubbon Road between 10.30am and 11.30am, and again from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.
