After Congress’s landslide victory in the 2023 assembly polls, which provided a much-needed morale booster and halted its rapid downward slide, Karnataka has become a vital part of the party’s national strategy. Be it promoting Siddaramaiah government’s guarantees-driven model of governance at the national level, or holding the first meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies in Bengaluru ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party has often turned to Karnataka to mount its offensive against the BJP dispensation at the Centre.
Now, as the Congress – especially the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi – has launched an orchestrated campaign against the Election Commission, all eyes are on his Bengaluru rally on August 5.
Ahead of the Bihar elections, the party has been making serious allegations against the constitutional body. The force and acceptability of the Grand Old Party’s fight ahead would largely depend on its ability to provide substantial material to back its claim of what the party leaders have repeatedly termed as “voter fraud”. The allegations have been rejected by the Election Commission of India.
As senior leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have claimed that Rahul Gandhi has “credible evidence of voter fraud”, a lot hinges on the revelations he makes – if at all he does – on that day. It is unclear whether the LoP will say anything entirely different from what his party leaders have already said.
Many in the party believe that the Congress central leadership got its own ‘investigation’ and ‘research’ done. They are hoping that the top brass will come up with something substantial to drive home the point. Ahead of the rally, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar stated that several election frauds would be highlighted, while AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal claimed that “shocking reports” would be out on that day.
They seem to be betting big on their fresh offensive from Bengaluru to send out a political message that the alleged electoral manipulation is an all-India phenomenon. Interestingly, after Rahul Gandhi launched a no-holds-barred tirade against the ECI, his party leaders in the state began talking vociferously about the alleged additions and deletions in the voter lists.
Going by Congress leaders’ remarks in the last few days, the focus seems to be on Mahadevapura and Rajajinagar assembly segments, apart from a few other constituencies. Shivakumar claimed that there were no proper records for around 60,000 voters in Mahadevapura constituency, where a 20-member legal team of the party had worked.
If that is indeed the case, how did it go unnoticed when the draft electoral rolls were published? It is also unclear why they waited for all this time to escalate the matter or why they did not then seek legal remedy, if they had credible evidence to back their allegations. It seems as though Congress is keen on sending a political message by raising questions over the credibility of elections.
Expectedly, the allegations have evoked a strong rebuttal from BJP. PC Mohan, 4th-term BJP MP from Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat, accused Congress of spreading lies after losing people’s trust and dared it to approach the court if they have proof. Mahadevapura and Rajajinagar are part of Bangalore Central LS seat. Echoing his party colleague’s views, former Law Minister and Rajajinagar MLA S Suresh Kumar questioned the timing of raising the issue. The Congress, he says, is making allegations as it is staring at an impending defeat in the Bihar elections.
Ironically, it is not the election-bound state of Bihar, but Karnataka that has turned into a battleground for a political fight over the credibility of elections. The party that won 136 out of 224 assembly seats in the 2023 polls, and has increased its seats from one in 2019 to nine in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is raising questions over the election process.
As allegations and counter-allegations fly thick and fast, the tempo and credibility of the party’s fight would depend on its top leaders’ ability to point out specific instances with solid proof, not make mere political statements. If they indeed succeed in doing so, it could prompt the Election Commission to take a hard look at the facts and processes to make it more transparent to address the concerns expressed by a political party. If not, the Congress’s fight could lose steam. The August 5 rally in Bengaluru is likely to indicate how things would pan out.