Rahul Gandhi Claims Duplicate Voting in Karnataka Elections, Questions Election Commission Data. The Commission has requested an affidavit and set a deadline of Friday for a response.
Rahul Gandhi: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, held a press conference on Thursday, alleging fraudulent voting in the Karnataka Assembly elections. Citing the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat, he claimed that a large number of duplicate votes were cast in the area. Rahul Gandhi also presented purported evidence based on Election Commission data to the press and questioned the Commission's impartiality.
Claim of Evidence of Fraudulent Voting
Rahul Gandhi stated that irregularities occurred in several places during the Karnataka Assembly elections. He specifically alleged fraudulent voting in the Bangalore Central seat. According to him, duplicate votes were registered, and a large number of ineligible voters were included in the list. Presenting documents to the media, he said that all of this is based on the Election Commission's data.
"It's Your Data and My Promise..."
During the press conference, Rahul Gandhi said, "What I tell the public is my promise. Take it as an oath. This data is not ours, but of the Election Commission, and we are showing the same." He also alleged that the documents he showed have not been refuted by the Commission, indicating that the information has not been denied.
Election Commission Seeks Affidavit
Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, the Election Commission has formally sought clarification from him. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka has written a letter to the Congress leader, stating that he should provide an affidavit on the allegations of adding ineligible voters and removing the names of eligible voters. Additionally, he has been given a time slot to meet between 1 PM and 3 PM on Friday.
Rahul Gandhi's Retort
Responding to the demand for an affidavit, Rahul Gandhi retorted, "What I say to the public is my promise. Consider that my oath. We are showing the Election Commission's own data. Interestingly, the Commission has not yet said that the voter list we showed is wrong."
He further added, "If the figures we have stated are incorrect, then why doesn't the Election Commission call them false? The reason is clear – they also know the truth. They know that what we have said is happening all over the country."
Political Atmosphere Heats Up
Rahul Gandhi's allegations have further heated up the political atmosphere. While the Congress is taking an aggressive stance on these allegations, the BJP and the Election Commission have not yet provided a detailed response to these claims. It will be interesting to see in which direction the affidavit requested by the Commission takes the political debate.
Major Question on Duplicate Voting
The issue of duplicate voting raised by Rahul Gandhi poses a serious question on the transparency of Indian democracy. If, indeed, ineligible voters have been added on a large scale and eligible voters' names have been removed, it undermines the credibility of the election process.
