Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioning whether the poll body had turned into the “BJP’s back office for vote theft.”
In a post on X, Kharge cited a media report alleging that the ECI withheld crucial details in its probe into voter fraud in Karnataka’s Aland constituency ahead of the 2023 assembly elections.
Kharge outlined what he called the “chronology” of the controversy, alleging that thousands of voters were unlawfully removed through forged Form 7 applications. “Ahead of the May 2023 Karnataka elections, Congress had exposed a massive deletion of voters in the Aland Constituency. Thousands of voters were stripped of their rights through a very sophisticated operation,” Kharge wrote.
He said that a case filed in February 2023 revealed nearly 6,000 forged applications, pointing to what he described as a “massive attempt at voter fraud.” The Congress-led state government subsequently ordered a CID probe into the matter.
Kharge, however, alleged that the ECI had “stonewalled” the probe by withholding key documents. “While ECI had earlier shared part of the documents needed to trace the forgery, it has now stonewalled the crucial information—effectively shielding those behind Vote Chori!” he claimed.
The Congress chief further accused the ECI of bending under political pressure. “Why has the ECI suddenly blocked vital evidence? Who is it protecting? BJP’s Vote Chori department? Is the ECI bending under BJP pressure to derail the CID probe?” he asked, stressing that protecting the right to vote is essential to safeguarding democracy.
In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress candidate Bhojaraj won the Aland seat by a margin of nearly 10,000 votes over BJP’s Subhash Guttedar.
