ECI and Karnataka CEO Fact-Checks Rahul Gandhi, Asks For Proof Of Vote-Chori

The Election Commission fact-checked yet another allegation made by Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, regarding purported election manipulation, which has turned into a source of contention between him and the electoral body.

Rahul Gandhi shared a presentation with shocking allegations of "vote theft" on Thursday.  Among the numerous accusations, he related the tale of a 70-year-old woman who allegedly misused Form 6, which is intended for first-time voters, to register to vote twice in two months.

Trashing the claim, the poll panel said, "In the Election Commission inquiry, it was found that Shakun Rani only voted once, not twice as claimed by Rahul Gandhi".

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations 

In Gandhi’s press conference last Thursday where he alleged electoral malpractice in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress leader remarked that one Shakun Rani had voted twice. 

He said, “ Let me tell you the story of Shakun Rani. She became a first-time voter. She is 70 years old. She used Form 6 once, and a few months later, she used Form 6 again. She had been listed in the voter list twice. And she is listed as a first-time voter. So did Shakun Rani vote, or did someone else vote for Shakun Rani? To hide this, CCTV data is not being given to us. And, Shakun Rani's case is not the only case like this. Thousands of people have used Form 6 to put their names 2-3 times in the voter list.” 

NDTV reported that during the presentation, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that two votes were cast using Ms Rani's ID card, showing a document with tick marks, allegedly by a polling booth officer.

Rahul Gandhi will lead the I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs in a march from Parliament to the Election Commission on Monday in protest of "vote chori," or vote theft, which occurs when electoral rolls are subjected to Special Intensive Revision (SIR).  The floor leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. Parliament will also try to meet with the Election Commissioners.

According to Rahul Gandhi, the EC allegedly failed to furnish his party with the digital voter list and CCTV footage of the voting booth that they had requested. "After that, we conducted our own research, submitted RTIs, and obtained the information.  He claimed, "The Election Commission and the BJP are actually stealing the election."

ECI responds 

In its 5-point reply, the Election Commission (EC) said that the document shown by the Congress leader was not a document issued by the polling officer.

The notice said, "You have also stated that as per the records given by the polling officer, Smt. Shakun Rani has voted twice. You have said: "Is ID card per do baar vote lagi hai, wo jo tick hai, polling booth ke officer ki hai (two votes were cast with this ID card. The tick that you see on the paper is by the polling booth officer)... Preliminary enquiry conducted by this office reveals that the tick-marked document shown by you in the presentation is not a document issued by the polling officer." 

In the recent notice, the EC asked Gandhi to furnish the pertinent papers that supported his assertion that Rani, or anyone else, has voted twice, so that a detailed inquiry can be undertaken by this office."

According to PTI, the Karnataka chief electoral officer on Sunday issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking him to share documents based on which he had alleged that a woman voted twice.

Gandhi was informed by the state's top poll officer that the records would assist his office in conducting a thorough investigation.  During a news conference last week in the nation's capital, Gandhi displayed the documents.

"You have also stated that as per the records given by the polling officer, Smt Shakun Rani had voted twice...On inquiry, Smt Sakun Rani has stated that she has voted only once and not twice, as alleged by you," the notice read.

The letter stated that the tick-marked paper that the Congress leader displayed in the presentation was not issued by the polling officer, according to an initial investigation carried out by the CEO's office.

"Therefore, you are kindly requested to provide the relevant documents on the basis of which you have concluded that Smt Shakun Rani or anyone else has voted twice, so that a detailed inquiry can be undertaken by this office," the notice stated.