By Martin Shwenk Leade
Copyright indiatimes
Agencies CM Siddaramaiah
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) hand over all technical details such as IP logs, device ports and OTP trails to the Karnataka CID in a week after AICC leader Rahul Gandhi alleged large scale deletion of names of eligible voters in Aland constituency of Kalaburagi district ahead of the 2023 assembly polls. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar too threw his weight behind Gandhi, saying the voter deletion in Aland was a deliberate act.“If the Commission fails to do so, it will stand exposed as complicit in shielding those who are destroying democracy,” the CM said in a statement. Gandhi’s revelations, the CM added, once again exposed how Indian democracy was being subverted through systematic and centralised attempts at vote theft. The Aland case was not an isolated incident but a window into a larger conspiracy to manipulate electoral rolls.As many as 6,018 Form 7 applications were filed between February 2022 and February 2023 Commission to delete names from the voters’ list of the Aland constituency. Inquiries revealed that only 24 of them were genuine and 5,994 were fraudulent. The CID began investigations into stolen voter details, fake logins, and mobile numbers from outside Karnataka that were used to impersonate “applicants”.For 18 months, the Karnataka CID has repeatedly asked the Election Commission for technical details which are essential to identify the people behind this operation. The ECI has refused to share the data. “Today, instead of addressing these specific demands, the Commission brushed aside the charges as “incorrect and baseless”, claiming no deletions can happen without due process. But the hard questions remain unanswered: why has crucial digital evidence been withheld, despite 18 reminders?”Live EventsSiddaramaiah and Shivakumar endorsed Gandhi’s allegation that software was used to impersonate the first voter in each booth, fake numbers were inserted, and deletions were concentrated in pockets of Congress strongholds.In 2018, the CM said the BJP won the Aland seat narrowly. In 2023, nearly 6,000 deletions were attempted. In 2024, BJP again led in this segment, he added, accusing the BJP of engineering vote theft and ECI of blocking investigations. “By refusing to share data, the ECI is protecting the guilty instead of protecting democracy.”Gandhi kicked off Congress party’s nationwide “vote theft” campaign from Bengaluru on August 8, seeking to amplify his charge that the elections had been rigged in Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat last year.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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Read More News onSiddaramaiahElection Commission of IndiaCID KarnatakaRahul Gandhivote theftAland constituencyDK ShivakumarKarnataka Pradesh Congress CommitteeIndian democracyAICC
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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onSiddaramaiahElection Commission of IndiaCID KarnatakaRahul Gandhivote theftAland constituencyDK ShivakumarKarnataka Pradesh Congress CommitteeIndian democracyAICC(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
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