Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 14 (ANI): Karnataka Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge, reacting to reports of a charge sheet filed against a former BJP MLA and his son for their alleged involvement in vote theft in the Aland Assembly constituency, said that despite the Election Commission allegedly hindering the investigation, the state SIT has finally uncovered the truth.
In a post on X, Kharge accused the BJP of forging logins to delete 5,994 voters in Aland and stated that they will continue to expose the alleged “vote chori” factories.
“The BJP’s #VoteChori factory in Aland now stands fully exposed beyond doubt or aspersions. The Karnataka SIT has filed its chargesheet naming former Aland BJP MLA and his son as the main accused. After 2.5 years and despite the Election Commission roadblocking the investigation at every stage and refusing to share the information needed for a proper probe, the SIT has finally uncovered the truth. The 22,000 page document exposes how a whole operation was set up with data operators, fake SIM cards, fraud OTP platforms and forged logins to delete 5,994 voters in Aland,” said Kharge.
“The factory rate was Rs. 80 per voter. That is how cheaply the BJP values our democratic right. The BJP can duck these conversations in Parliament and shout down anyone who raises them, but the truth will prevail. We will expose their vote chori factories,” added Kharge,” added Kharge.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Saturday asserted that alleged vote theft in the Aland Assembly constituency was genuine and said concrete action had been initiated with the filing of a charge sheet against former BJP MLA Subhash Guttedar.
Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence and later at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said the investigation had established instances of election fraud.
“Vote theft in Aland is true. A charge sheet has been filed against BJP leader Subhash Guttedar based on the investigation. Our MLAs will also raise this issue in the Assembly session on Monday,” he said, adding that the matter reflected a larger national concern, not just a state-level issue.
Referring to the contents of the charge sheet, the Deputy CM said it mentioned the deletion of phone records. “I will speak in detail after receiving a complete report on this aspect,” he noted. Shivakumar also said the Congress would strengthen its legal response to alleged electoral malpractice. “As suggested by Rahul Gandhi, we will open legal cells in every Assembly constituency to fight vote theft and protect voters’ rights,” he said.
Earlier, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleged an attempt to delete more than 6,000 votes in Aland.
In a press conference, Gandhi said, “In Aland, 6018 votes, somebody tried to delete these votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted in the 2023 elections, but somebody got caught. It was caught, by most crimes, by coincidence. What happened was that the Booth Level officer noticed that her uncle’s vote had been deleted. When she checked, she saw that her neighbour had deleted the vote.” (ANI)
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