New Delhi [India], August 11 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has once again reiterated its demand that Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, either submit the required declarations to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of Karnataka and Haryana regarding his allegations of “vote theft,” or apologise to the country.
The reminder comes after the CEO of Karnataka issued a notice on Sunday and the CEO of Haryana sent a follow-up communication, both seeking documents to substantiate Rahul Gandhi’s claims made during an August 7 press conference.
The Karnataka CEO has asked Rahul Gandhi to provide documents relating to his allegations that a voter, Shakun Rani, cast her ballot twice based on data shown by a polling officer. In a letter dated August 10, the Karnataka CEO noted that Gandhi claimed to have obtained these documents from Election Commission records.
However, upon preliminary inquiry, Shakun Rani denied voting twice, and the CEO’s office found that the tick-marked document presented by Gandhi was not issued by the polling officer, raising concerns over its authenticity. The Karnataka CEO requested that Gandhi submit the relevant documents so a detailed investigation could be conducted by state electoral authorities.
During his August 7 press conference, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress expected to win 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka but secured only nine. He stated that the party investigated seven unexpected losses, focusing on Mahadevapura, where he alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) involving 100,250 votes.
“We found 100,250 votes stolen in five different ways—duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address, in a building with 50-60 people living. But when we go there, there is no record of those people living there. One family living in that house,” Gandhi claimed.
Meanwhile, the Haryana Chief Electoral Officer has also written to Gandhi, requesting that he return a signed Declaration within ten days in relation to his statements about the alleged inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors from Haryana’s electoral rolls.
In a letter dated August 9, the Haryana CEO reminded Gandhi that he had been asked to provide particulars of the electors concerned, along with a duly signed Declaration or Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
“It is requested that the signed Declaration/Oath be returned to this office within ten (10) days so that necessary proceedings may be initiated in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960,” the letter stated.
The ECI on Saturday reiterated that Rahul Gandhi must either provide the declarations as per the rules or apologise for what it calls “false” allegations regarding voter lists.
“Rahul Gandhi should either give a declaration as per the rules or apologise to the country for his false allegations,” the poll body said in a statement. (ANI)
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