The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer on Thursday wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi, the Lok Sabha LoP, over allegations of vote theft made during a press conference against the Election Commission of India (EC).
The poll body demanded an enclosed declaration or oath along with the documents which he used to claim alleged irregularities in polls. EC’s letter met a sharp response from Gandhi, who said he uttered words in public and hence the poll body must consider it as an oath.
What did EC write to Gandhi?
The Karnataka CEO has asked the Lok Sabha LoP to return the enclosed declaration along with the names of electors to start necessary proceedings.
The Karnataka CEO said, “It is understood that during a press conference held today you had mentioned about the inclusion o linelgible electors and exclusions of eligible electors in the electoral rolls”.
The letter further read, “It is understood that during a Press Conference held today, you had mentioned about the inclusion of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible electors in the Electoral Rolls cited at Para 3. You are kindly requested to sign and return the enclosed Declaration/Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, along with the name(s) of such elector(s) so that necessary proceedings can be initiated”.
“This is not our data. This is Election Commission data. Interestingly, they haven’t denied the information. They haven’t told the voter list that Rahul Gandhi is talking about are wrong. Why don’t you say they wrong? Because you know the truth. You know that we know that you have done this across the country.”
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What’s the controversy?
The Congress leader has time and again accuse the poll body of colluding with the BJP in elections. Recently, he claimed he had done an investigation and had found what he called an ‘atom bomb’. On Thursday, he showed up at a press conference with documents and purported data to prove that one lakh dupicate voters, invalid addresses and bulk voters in Mahadevapura constituency in Karnataka.
The allegations sparks a fresh debate over the alleged poll irregularities, which according to Gandhi kept BJP winning depsite the anti-incumbency.