Bengaluru, Aug 8 (IANS) A delegation of Congress leaders, led by party’s Karnataka unit President D.K. Shivakumar who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, on Friday submitted a complaint to the Karnataka State Election Commission office here regarding ‘electoral fraud’ in Mahadevapura and several other constituencies.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, in reply to the representation, asked the Congress party to submit the documents related to the complaint along with the declaration/oath as per Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, so as to act on the complaint.
In a major development to the election fraud allegations, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka V. Anbukumar on Thursday sought a signed declaration from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the issue. The declaration states that providing false information will be considered a punishable offence.
The delegation included KPCC Working President and Rajya Sabha member G.C. Chandrashekhar, BDA Chairman and MLA N.A. Haris, and MLC Basanagouda Badarli.
Speaking to media, Shivakumar said: “We have submitted a request to the Election Commission to conduct a thorough verification of the electoral rolls across the entire state.”
When asked about the Election Commission’s demand for an affidavit from Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar responded: “What affidavit do they need? I and Rahul Gandhi ourselves are affidavits. After contesting and winning elections, we’ve already submitted affidavits. What more do they want? If we are lying, hang us. Has the Commission denied Rahul Gandhi’s allegations? They are demanding an affidavit now only to delay things. The data we have was gathered through RTI.”
Asked when the Congress would submit the full details, he said, “We have requested some data from the Commission. Let them provide it first.”
He said: “Under the leadership of our leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, we held this protest on Friday to fight against injustice and protect voting rights. Keeping the court orders in mind, we decided not to hold a procession to the Election Commission office and instead sent only a few party leaders. Rahul Gandhi has already explained how electoral injustice occurred, and we believe this has happened across the state. We’ve only studied a few constituencies. We submitted a representation highlighting five to six areas and requested the Election Commission to verify voter rolls statewide.”
He clarified: “We haven’t submitted the Mahadevapura and Gandhinagar models to the Election Commission. What Rahul Gandhi shared in the press conference on Thursday was just an example. Similar irregularities have happened in several regions of the state, and we are demanding a full-scale verification. We’ve urged the Commission to take strict action against any officials, whether it be the returning officer or BLO, involved in such irregularities.”
“We have submitted a proposal listing 8–10 irregularities such as duplicate entries of the same voter in five places, names included without a proper address, fake entries linked to vacant plots, and unlawful shifting of voter names to nearby booths. We also requested digital formats of the electoral roll and specific data but haven’t submitted full details yet,” he stated.
“We’ve learned that V. Anbukumar, the newly appointed Chief Electoral Officer, has begun a verification process. This is a welcome step. We will provide details about where injustice has occurred and what steps should follow. This is not just a fight limited to Karnataka or Mahadevapura,” he said.
“Some may ask – ‘Isn’t it your own government and your own officials?’ But the entire control lies with the Election Commission. If my name is entered into the computer, it should show where all my votes are listed. The Election Commission officers must at least have the courtesy to verify this. This issue must be discussed nationwide. We have begun our protest with this in mind and will continue in the coming days,” Shivakumar added.
Asked about BJP leaders’ criticism, he said, “We don’t respond to BJP leaders’ statements. Our fight is against the Election Commission, not any political party. The Commission must not act like a mouthpiece of one party.”
–IANS
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