**Karnataka CEO Requests Evidence from Rahul Gandhi on Voter Fraud Claims**
The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka has reached out to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, requesting documentation to substantiate his claims that a voter cast her ballot twice during the previous year’s Lok Sabha elections. In a letter, the CEO referenced Gandhi’s recent press conference, where he asserted that certain documents he presented were “EC data” and alleged that voter Shakun Rani had voted twice based on information “provided by the polling officer.” Gandhi was quoted stating, “Es ID card par do baar vote laga hai, wo jo tick hai, polling booth ke officer ki hai,” which translates to, “This ID has been used to vote twice, the tick marks were made by the polling booth officer.”
However, the Election Commission noted that during an investigation, Shakun Rani confirmed she only voted once. A preliminary inquiry also revealed that the document with tick marks shown by Gandhi was not issued by the polling officer, contradicting his assertion. The letter from the CEO requested that Gandhi provide the relevant documents that led him to conclude that Shakun Rani or anyone else had voted multiple times, to facilitate a thorough investigation.
In a recent critique of the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi accused the body of colluding with the BJP to manipulate election outcomes in India. During a press briefing, he alleged that fraudulent names were being added to voter lists, citing electoral rolls from Karnataka’s Mahadevapura assembly segment as evidence. He claimed there was significant vote theft, estimating that out of 650,000 votes in the constituency, over 100,000 were fraudulent. According to Gandhi, Congress’s internal research identified 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 with fake or invalid addresses, 10,452 “bulk voters” sharing the same address, and 4,132 with invalid photographs. He also alleged that 33,692 voters misused Form 6, which is intended for new registrations.
The Mahadevapura constituency has seen tight competition in the 2024 elections, with Congress candidate Mansoor Ali Khan initially leading before BJP’s PC Mohan won by a margin of 32,707 votes. Gandhi noted that while Congress secured victories in six out of seven segments, they lost Mahadevapura by 114,000 votes, attributing this loss to alleged vote theft.
Gandhi further criticized the Election Commission for not providing voter lists in electronic format, arguing that machine-readable data would have quickly revealed the alleged fraud. He accused the commission of supplying only non-machine-readable documents, complicating the scrutiny process, which took the party six months to complete.
In response to Gandhi’s allegations, the Election Commission urged him to either submit signed evidence or refrain from making unfounded accusations against the institution.
**FAQ**
**Q: What allegations did Rahul Gandhi make against the Election Commission?**
A: Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP to manipulate election results, claiming significant voter fraud in the Mahadevapura constituency.