August 10, 2025: The controversy over Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s claims of “vote theft” became worse today when the Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO) officially asked him to back up his assertions with papers. The move comes a day after the national Election Commission (EC) urged him for either a statement or an apology.
The Karnataka CEO wrote to Gandhi and said that a first investigation into his claim that a voter called Shakun Rani had voted twice found that this was not the case. The CEO further said that the paper Gandhi showed at a recent news conference and said was from EC records was not an official polling officer’s document. The letter asked Gandhi to “provide the relevant documents” so that a “detailed inquiry can be undertaken.”
Rahul Gandhi has also repeated his claims on social media, saying that “a clean voter roll is necessary for free and fair elections.” He said again that the Congress had hoped to win 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka but only got nine because of alleged electoral wrongdoing, especially in the Mahadevapura constituency.
The Congress-led government in Karnataka, on the other hand, has stepped in. Home Minister G. Parameshwara said that Gandhi personally does not need to give the documents. He indicated that the state Congress unit would make an official complaint to the State Election Commission over this. The Congress party has also said that they will gather on Monday to prepare a campaign across the country against “voter list manipulation and election fraud.”