BENGALURU: KPCC media cell chairman and advocate Ramesh Babu has written to the Chief Election Commissioner, seeking withdrawal of remarks made against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of large-scale electoral fraud in Karnataka.
In a letter to the Election Commission of India in New Delhi, Babu argued that Article 324 of the Constitution, along with provisions of the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, places a “bounden duty” on the ECI to ensure free and fair elections and maintain accurate electoral rolls. Citing Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression, Babu maintained that citizens — including Opposition leaders — have the right to question the correctness of electoral rolls and the fairness of the election process. “Such actions strengthen democracy and should not invite threats or intimidation,” the letter stated.
Rahul recently alleged vote theft in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura segment, claiming over one lakh fake entries created through duplicate registrations, fake addresses, and misuse of Form-6. He accused the ECI of complicity by refusing to provide machine-readable digital voter rolls, destroying CCTV footage from polling stations, and blocking independent audits. He also questioned the absence of alleged anti-incumbency patterns in the results, hinting at manipulation.
Babu emphasised that Rahul’s demands for digital electoral rolls and independent scrutiny were made in the public interest, and warned that threatening him for doing so was “against the spirit of the Constitution”.