07-08-2025
Bengaluru ‘vote chori' allegation: Karnataka election chief asks Rahul Gandhi to give evidence under oath
Minutes after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged a 'huge criminal fraud' in elections and accused the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP, citing data from a Bengaluru constituency, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka asked him to share details via a declaration or oath.
'It is understood that during a press conference held today, you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the electoral rolls…You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed declaration/oath…along with the name(s) of such elector(s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated,' the letter by CEO V Anbu Kumar stated.
At a press conference in New Delhi, Gandhi had alleged that there was 'vote chori' of over 1 lakh votes out of the 6.5 lakh total votes in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment last year. 'Congress research found over 1 lakh duplicate voters, invalid addresses, and bulk voters in Mahadevapura constituency in Karnataka,' he said.
The Mahadevapura Assembly constituency forms part of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat. The BJP had won the Bangalore Central seat last year by a margin of 32,707 votes.
In his letter, CEO Kumar pointed out that 'electoral rolls are prepared in a transparent manner' and were shared with the Congress representative.
'As far as the conduct of elections is concerned, election results can be questioned only by a way of an election petition before Honourable High Court,' the letter states.
The declaration or oath states that any false declaration is a punishable offence under Section 31 (making false declarations) of The Representation Of The People Act and Section 227 (giving false evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The letter also mentions that a Congress delegation had sought time to meet the Karnataka CEO to submit a memorandum, and time had been granted between 1 pm and 3 pm on Friday.
In his press conference, Rahul Gandhi said that 13 lakh votes were cast in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha segment, with BJP's P C Mohan defeating Congress candidate Mansoor Ali Khan by 32,707 votes.
The 'Congress probe' allegedly revealed that the BJP gained more than 1 lakh votes in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment, which falls under the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat. Describing it as a 'huge imbalance', Gandhi stated that 1,00,250 votes were stolen in Mahadevapura through duplicate voters and misuse of Form 6 for new enrolments.
