During a rally in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi, a prominent Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, voiced strong criticisms against the Election Commission and the BJP. He labeled vote theft as a violation of the Constitution and asserted that the right to vote is fundamental for every citizen. He emphasized the importance of upholding the Constitution.
Gandhi claimed that vote theft is a betrayal of the Constitution, and he accused the BJP of benefiting from it. He pointed out that the BJP won in areas where new voters were registered. He cited the Maharashtra elections as a case in point, where the Congress-led coalition won the Lok Sabha, only to see the BJP win the assembly elections shortly after. According to Gandhi, the investigation showed an influx of approximately 1 crore new voters in the assembly elections, who did not participate in the Lok Sabha elections.
Gandhi stated that these voters, who did not participate in the earlier election, suddenly appeared in the assembly elections, leading to BJP victories in those specific areas. He noted that while his coalition’s vote share remained the same, the increase in votes overwhelmingly favored the BJP.
Gandhi also discussed the Karnataka elections, where initial projections suggested a higher number of seats for his party. However, the final results were less favorable. He mentioned that requests for voter lists and video recordings from the EC were denied. An investigation in the Mahadevapura constituency was initiated, with Gandhi accusing the EC and the BJP of vote theft in Karnataka.
Gandhi alleged that in Mahadevapura, about 1 lakh votes out of 6.5 lakh were stolen through various means, including duplicate entries, fake addresses, and invalid photos. He directly accused the Election Commission and the BJP of stealing 1 lakh votes.