EC Reacts To Rahul Gandhi Vote Chori Claim | The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka on Thursday formally requested Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to provide names of electors he alleged were wrongfully included or excluded from the state’s electoral rolls. The request comes in response to serious allegations made by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha during a press conference in New Delhi.
In a letter addressed to Gandhi, the CEO referred to his public statement, saying, “You had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls.” The CEO has asked Gandhi to submit a signed declaration under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the specific names of the electors in question.
“You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed declaration/oath… so that necessary proceedings can be initiated,” the letter stated.
Poll Officer Responds to Allegations of Duplicate and Invalid Voters
Rahul Gandhi had earlier claimed a “vote chori” involving 1,00,250 votes in a Karnataka constituency, citing alleged irregularities in the Mahadevapura assembly segment. According to Gandhi, there were 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake or invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters from single addresses, 4,132 voters with invalid photos, and 33,692 voters who misused Form 6 meant for new or first-time voters.
Election Commission officials in Karnataka confirmed that the CEO is expecting the signed affidavit from Rahul Gandhi by Thursday evening in order to initiate further action based on the allegations.