‘Vote theft’ row exposes cracks in Karnataka Congress; some leaders feel party must also take responsibility

Even as the Congress leadership is all set to intensify its protest against the Narendra Modi government over the allegations of election rigging and ‘vote theft’ in the last Lok Sabha elections, the tirade has also exposed the widening cracks in party’s Karnataka unit.

 

The opposition party’s all-out offensive was launched by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi who, while addressing a rally in Bengaluru last week, alleged large-scale ‘vote theft’ in Mahadevapura Assembly segment.

 

Rahul’s charges, however, have not gone down well with a section of the leaders from Karnataka who noted that the Congress must take responsibility for the alleged irregularities in voters’ list since the party was in power in the state.

 

"One should remember that voter lists were revised when our own govt was at the helm. Why did our party turn a blind eye then? It is true that there are irregularities, but it is insulting for us that it happened right under our nose,” Cooperation minister K.N. Rajanna was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

 

Rajanna also remarked that the Election Commission had invited objections from parties after publishing the draft electoral rolls.

 

“We should have raised objections then, especially in the case of Mahadevapura where there are many instances of malpractice. After keeping silent when we were supposed to talk, we are talking about it now,” he said.

 

The remarks of Rajanna, a loyalist of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, drew sharp reactions from the rival group led by Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar. They accused the minister and others of trying to destabilise the party and urged the high command to take a serious note of it.

 

"Talking negatively against our own party and govt even before the investigation is over is unpardonable. The high command must take serious note of it end such anti-party activities,” said Kunigal MLA H.D. Ranganath.

 

In his address, Rahul had alleged there was a theft of 1,00,250 votes in the Mahadevapura segment, with 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single-address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6 of new voters.

 

"The Congress won all the Vidhan Sabhas except Mahadevapura, where the BJP swept and secured a victory margin of 1,14,046 votes. This seat significantly contributed to their election win, and the Lok Sabha result went in their favour on that seat," he had said.

India