By The Hindu Bureau

Copyright thehindu

Endorsing the statements made by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on efforts to delete the names of eligible voters in Aland of Kalaburagi district, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday alleged that it was not an isolated incident but a window into a larger conspiracy to manipulate electoral rolls and deny citizens their right to vote.

Taking to social media, Mr. Siddaramaiah argued that the Aland case was not a local mischief and wondered if it was only the tip of the iceberg. He alleged that the ‘revelations’ made by Mr. Gandhi had once again exposed how Indian democracy was being subverted through systematic and centralised attempts at “vote chori”.

He recalled that between February 2022 and February 2023, 6,018 Form 7 applications had been filed through the Election Commission of India (ECI) apps to delete names from the voters’ list of the Aland Assembly Constituency. On inquiry, only 24 were genuine while the remaining 5,994 were fraudulent, he pointed out.

“Stolen voter details, fake logins, and mobile numbers from outside Karnataka were used to impersonate applicants. Entire families were targeted for deletion without their knowledge. A case was registered, and the CID began investigation,” he said.

He alleged that the ECI had refused to share the relevant data, despite the Karnataka CID having been repeatedly asked for technical details, including destination IPs, device ports, and OTP trails, which are essential to identify where this operation was run from and who was behind it.

“Now, instead of addressing these specific demands, the commission brushed aside the charges as incorrect and baseless, claiming no deletions can happen without due process. Why has crucial digital evidence been withheld, despite 18 reminders?” he asked.

“Evidence presented by Mr. Rahul Gandhi shows this was no local mischief. Software was used to impersonate the first voter in each booth, fake numbers were inserted, and deletions were concentrated in Congress strongholds. Similar operations have been uncovered in Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and earlier in Bengaluru Central’s Mahadevapura constituency, where large-scale irregularities in voter rolls came to light,” he maintained.

Wondering if Aland was only the tip of the iceberg, Mr. Siddaramaiah pointed out that in 2018, the BJP had won the seat narrowly. In 2023, nearly 6,000 deletions were attempted when Congress won the seat. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP again got the lead in this Assembly segment, he noted. “How many such manipulations have gone undetected in other constituencies? How many results were influenced?” he wondered.

“The truth is simple: BJP attempts vote chori, and the Election Commission is blocking the investigation. By refusing to share data, the ECI is protecting the guilty instead of protecting democracy,” he alleged.

“On behalf of the people of Karnataka, I demand that the Election Commission immediately hand over all technical details — IP logs, device ports and OTP trails — to the CID within one week. If the commission fails to do so, it will stand exposed as complicit in shielding those who are destroying democracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar stated that the alleged non-cooperation by the ECI had raised suspicions that it too could have been part of a conspiracy to delete the names of the voters. Stating that the party State unit had provided complete details on the Aland episode to the high command, he alleged that such incidents had also taken place in other constituencies.