The Election Commission of India (ECI) has pushed back against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter list manipulation in Karnataka, pointing out that the Congress-led state government itself is relying on the same electoral rolls for its caste census exercise.
According to ECI sources, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to use the electoral roll as the foundation for conducting its caste survey — even as Rahul Gandhi accused the Commission of enabling “vote theft” in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment.
“At the same time LoP (Rahul Gandhi) was dropping the atom bomb on electoral rolls, the Congress government was vouching for their authenticity by basing its most important caste census policy on them,” the sources said.
The ECI also questioned Gandhi’s past approach to communication with the Commission, alleging that he has never directly sent a self-signed letter. “Whatever reply we give is to other entities, and every time, he disowns it,” sources claimed, citing a similar instance involving Maharashtra in December 2024.
On Thursday, Gandhi had alleged that 1,00,250 “fake votes” were created in Mahadevapura, part of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency, to secure a BJP victory.
In response, ECI sources said Gandhi must either sign a declaration affirming his allegations — as per documents prepared by the Chief Electoral Officers of Maharashtra and Karnataka — or apologise for making what they termed “absurd” claims.
“If Rahul Gandhi believes in his analysis and stands by his allegations, he should have no problem signing the declaration. If he refuses, it would mean he does not believe in his own claims, in which case he should apologise to the nation,” the sources said.
