Karnataka Election Officer Clears Air on Voter Fraud Claims in Aland Seat
In a quick response to Rahul Gandhi’s recent allegations of voter fraud in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly seat, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer has shared key details to set the record straight. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha accused the Election Commission of hiding information, but officials say they’ve handed over everything needed for the investigation into these Karnataka election irregularities.
V. Anbu Kumar, Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer, explained on Thursday that all available data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) was passed on to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) via the Superintendent of Police in Kalaburagi on September 6, 2023. This includes crucial voter fraud investigation details like objectors’ names, their Electors’ Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, mobile numbers used for login, IP addresses, form submission dates, and more. "We followed ECI instructions and provided everything to help wrap up the probe," Anbu Kumar said.
The Election Commission of India has been fully cooperative, holding meetings with police cyber security experts and the investigating officer to track progress. They’ve also supplied any extra documents or help the agency requested.
The whole issue kicked off back in December 2022, when the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for Aland received a whopping 6,018 online Form-7 applications to delete voters’ names. These came through apps like NVSP, VHA, and GARUDA, raising red flags about possible bogus voter deletion attempts in the Karnataka Assembly elections.
ERO, Assistant ERO, and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) jumped into action, verifying each one. Out of those, only 24 turned out genuine, leading to actual deletions. The remaining 5,994 were fake and got rejected—no names were removed from the voter list.
Based on BLOs’ findings, the ERO filed an FIR with Aland police station in Kalaburagi district on February 21, 2023. This step ensures the voter fraud case in Aland moves forward with all facts on the table.
With this clarification, the Chief Electoral Officer aims to counter the claims of information withholding by the Election Commission, showing transparency in handling Karnataka voter fraud allegations.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
