BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: In the wake of ‘vote theft’ allegations levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against the Election Commission of India at a press conference in New Delhi on August 7, the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Karnataka on Sunday served a notice to the Congress leader, asking him to share documents based on which he had alleged that a woman voted twice.
Gandhi had alleged that there was an instance of duplicate voting, citing the case of one Shakun Rani, who he claimed had voted twice in the Mahadevapura constituency in the 2024 general election and had stated that the document was from the ECI. The ECI, however, stated that its preliminary inquiry found no such evidence, with Shakun Rani herself asserting that she voted only once and the “tick-marked” document Gandhi displayed not being an official record issued by a polling officer.
The CEO has asked Gandhi to submit the documents he relied upon to support his allegations, so that an investigation can be conducted.
The Karnataka CEO’s notice to Gandhi was followed by a reminder from the CEO of Haryana asking for Gandhi’s declaration under oath that there was vote theft.
On Sunday, ECI authorities said: “Rahul Gandhi should either give a Declaration on Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka’s first Notice and Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana’s reminder on time or apologise to the country.”
In response, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal dismissed the ECI’s demands, stating, “We are not afraid of any notice.”
Upping the ante over Gandhi’s poll rigging claims, the Congress on Sunday launched a web portal for people to register and demand accountability from the EC against “vote theft”, and express support for the demand for digital voter rolls. “Join us and support the demand for transparency from ECI,” he said on X.