Karnataka polls survey findings don't disprove 'vote chori', says CM Siddaramaiah

In an elaborate statement, Siddaramaiah said the contentious survey was not a political opinion poll.

Bengaluru: Findings of the 2024 Lok Sabha poll survey, commissioned by the Election Commission, do not disprove "serious concerns about electoral malpractice" that top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has raised, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday.

In an elaborate statement, Siddaramaiah said the contentious survey, whose report has been recalled by the government after it was made public, was not a political opinion poll.

"It was an end-line administrative evaluation of voter awareness under SVEEP programmes, commissioned by the Election Commission and conducted in May 2025. Its purpose was to assess voter education efforts - not to certify the integrity of electoral processes or respond to allegations that surfaced months later. An awareness survey cannot be twisted into a certificate of electoral integrity," Siddaramaiah said.

The CM pointed out that Gandhi raised the 'Vote Chori' issue "based on evidence" in August 2025. "Using pre-allegation data to dismiss post-allegation evidence is not fact-checking; it is intellectual sleight of hand," he said.

Siddaramaiah said that the sample size of 5,100 in a state having over 5.3 crore voters was "a microscopic fraction by any serious statistical standard".

"In constituencies like Bengaluru Central, where allegations of voter list manipulation are most acute, the respondent count runs into mere double digits. Projecting this as the definitive people’s verdict is statistically indefensible," Siddaramaiah argued.

Siddaramaiah flagged "conflict of interest" with nonprofit GRAAM that conducted the survey. Its founder R Balasubramaniam holds a union government position and had authorited a book praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024, he said.

Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said, has not questioned democracy or elections. "He has sought basic transparency from the EC on voter roll access, surveillance safeguards, EVM scrutiny, and the independence of the Election Commissioner appointment process -- questions that remain unanswered," he said.

Citing the example of alleged voter fraud in Aland, Siddaramaiah said the police had filed a 22,000-page charge sheet naming seven people, including a former BJP MLA. "This investigation was conducted by our government despite winning the seat and it forced systemic changes by the Election Commission itself," he said. "A limited, pre-event administrative survey cannot bury criminal evidence, charge sheets, or unanswered questions."