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Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again attacked the Election Commission, alleging that the elections are “choreographed”.
Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (PTI)
Escalating his attack on the Election Commission of India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday again accused the poll watchdog of colluding with the BJP to rig the Lok Sabha elections in the country. Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi alleged that fake people were being added to voter lists and attempted to validate his point by showing the Karnataka electoral rolls.
However, responding to the Leader of Opposition’s allegations, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) asked Rahul Gandhi to provide details of doubtful voters.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Election Commission, alleging that the elections are “choreographed” and presented Congress’ research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka.
The Congress leader alleged “vote chori” (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes. Rahul Gandhi said that Congress won other seats while Mahadevapura was swept by the BJP.
“Elections are choreographed… Our internal polling told us we would win 16 seats in Karnataka; we won nine. We then focused on seven unexpected losses. We chose one Lok Sabha, and our team decided we could only focus on one Vidhan Sabha (seat). So we focused on Mahadevapur. Here is the broad math. All data is 2024 data from the Election Commission,” Radhul Gandhi said.
“Total votes polled in the Lok Sabha were 6.26 lakhs. The BJP won with 6,58,915, securing a margin of 32,707. But then we look at Mahadevapura, where Congress polls 1,15,586 and BJP polls 2,29,632. Congress wins all Vidhan Sabhas but this one. This seat wins them the election.”
“We found 1,00,250 votes stolen. Stolen in five different ways. Duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and bulk voters in a single address. But when we go there, no record of those people living there. One family living in that house,” the Leader of Opposition alleged.
Rahul Gandhi Reiterates Claims On Maharashtra Polls
Reiterating his claims on fake voters in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections, he alleged that the number of voters added to the list in the five months ahead of the polls was more than the people added in the last five years.
“Maharashtra, we weren’t able to tell the logic behind it. In Maharashtra and Haryana, we saw it right in front of our faces. We said publicly and told EC, more voters were added in five months than in five years in Maharashtra. More voters than the entire population of Maharashtra. Huge jump in voter turnout after 5 pm,” Rahul Gandhi said.
EC Responds
Meanwhile, the poll body said that Rahul Gandhi is yet to respond to its June letter regarding his allegations of “election rigging” in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The EC said the Congress leader has not responded to an official invitation extended to him nearly two months ago. “Why? Is it because his media statements were baseless?” ECI sources asked.
In a letter dated June 12, the Election Commission had invited the Leader of the Opposition for an interaction regarding “rigging” in Maharashtra Assembly elections, which he raised in a write-up that he wrote for a newspaper on June 7. He had claimed that the same would be repeated in the Bihar assembly polls due later this year.
(With agency inputs)
Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a…Read More
Mahima Joshi, Sub-Editor at News18.com, works with the India and Breaking team. Covering national stories and bringing breaking news to the table are her forte. She is deeply interested in Indian politics and a… Read More
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