At Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Friday, Congress leaders staged their Vote Adhikar Rally, with Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claiming that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the city’s Mahadevapura assembly segment saw one out of every six votes allegedly stolen.
The Rally, named as “Our Vote, Our Right, Our Struggle,” was headed by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge along with Rahul Gandhi. It came after Rahul’s press conference, in which he charged the Election Commission of India with Election capture of India.
Rahul Gandhi alleged that one in every six votes in Mahadevapura was stolen, and he claimed it totally on Internal Party Analysis. Congress secured 6,26,208 votes against BJP’s 6,58,915 in Bengaluru Central LS seat, facing a defeat margin of just 32,707 votes; though they lost by over 114,000 votes in Mahadevapura.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that there were 100,250 stolen votes in Mahadevpura and cited five tactics:
- Duplicate voters: 11,965
- Fake or invalid addresses: 40,009
- Bulk registration at single addresses: 10,452
- Unrecognisable or fake photos: 4,132
- Misuse of Form 6: 33,692
“The EC and BJP together have stolen the Lok Sabha from Karnataka.” Rahul added that repeated requests for polling booth videos and electronic rolls were rejected and that the law was later amended to require videos to be erased after 45 days. Rahul in the end warned that if the EC fails to provide data, it would amount to aid electoral theft, “If you think you can get away with assaulting the Constitution, think again. It may take time, but we will catch you.”
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge emphasized the importance of protecting the electoral process and stated, “Elections come and go, but it’s our duty to protect the electoral process.” Kharge noted that out of 12 elections he contested, he lost only one in 2019, attributing that defeat to bogus voting. Kharge announced that MP’s from the opposition would march to Delhi to submit a memorandum at the Election Commission office on Monday.
Deputy CM Dr. K Shivakumar filed a complaint urging investigation across Karnataka, stating, “Vote theft not only happened in Mahadevapura, but across Karnataka. We have requested the Election Commission to investigate the fraud and punish officials concerned, be it a block-level officer or returning officer.” He proposed the concept of Legal Banks, a protective mechanism for voter rights at the polling booth level, likening it to blood banks.
