Karnataka 'voter fraud': Kharge accuses EC of stonewalling crucial information

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday found fault with the Election Commission (EC) for allegedly not sharing “vital evidence” about those who have fraudulently applied for deleting votes in a Karnataka Assembly seat, claiming the poll body has now become “BJP's back office for ‘vote chori’ (vote theft)”.

His remarks came as reports suggested that the EC has stonewalled repeated requests from Karnataka CID seeking digital evidence in connection with its probe into a complaint that fraudsters submitted fake applications for removing names from the electoral rolls in Aland constituency in Kalaburgi district.

The EC has not responded to the charges even. Kharge asked, "is the Election Commission of India (ECI) now BJP’s Back-Office for 'vote chori'?"

He said the Congress had exposed an attempt at massive deletion of voters in Aland constituency ahead of May 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. He said a case was filed in February 2023, which revealed that 5,994 forged applications were filed and it was "clear evidence of a massive attempt at voter fraud.

Kharge said the Congress government in the state then ordered a CID probe but there was a "twist" as the EC has "now stonewalled the crucial information -- effectively shielding those behind vote chori" though the poll body had earlier shared part of the documents to trace the forgery.

“Why has the ECI suddenly blocked vital evidence? Who is it protecting? BJP’s 'vote chori' department? Is the ECI bending under BJP pressure to derail the CID probe? Individual’s right to vote needs to be protected. Indian democracy needs to be protected,” he said.

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said the EC action "once again proves their culpability in hiding crucial evidence that proves mass scale vote rigging". The poll body should "stop acting like an agent of the BJP”, he said.

Emphasising that the Karnataka government has been conducting its investigation based on the EC’s documents itself, he said, for the EC to withhold evidence is against their Constitutional responsibility of ensuring free and fair elections.

It proves that the Opposition’s "warnings are being proven right" that the EC and BJP are "hand in glove in orchestrating a daylight robbery of votes".

"The EC cannot evade accountability anymore; they must answer to the people of India for colluding in this crime against democracy. The EC must answer: why are they silent despite multiple demands of transparency from the Opposition? ⁠What pressure from the BJP has forced them to take this confrontational stance? ⁠Since the Supreme Court has already castigated the EC for withholding information regarding SIR, why is it continuing to oppose calls for transparency?" he added.

Congress is on a warpath with the Election Commission and the ruling BJP over the issue of ‘vote chori’ with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi last month alleging that there were one lakh “fake voters” in Mahadevapura Assembly seat in Karnataka, after analysing electoral rolls.

At the conclusion of the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar’s Patna, Rahul has said that the Congress will soon have a “hydrogen bomb” like expose further on ‘vote chori’.