Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegation that a 70-year-old woman from Mahadevapura, Shakun Rani, had cast her vote twice.
The CEO has asked the Leader of Opposition to submit all “relevant documents” supporting his claims. The poll body also clarified that, upon inquiry, Shakun Rani stated she had voted only once, contrary to Rahul Gandhi’s accusation.
What Rahul Gandhi alleged
In a video posted on his YouTube channel on Friday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that 1,00,250 votes were “stolen” in Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency. He claimed this included nearly 12,000 duplicate voters, 40,000 voters with fake or invalid addresses, over 10,000 registered at the same address, 4,100 with invalid photographs, and around 34,000 instances of misuse of Form 6 for new voter registrations.
As an example, Gandhi mentioned Shakun Rani, claiming she had registered twice within two months.
What the CEO’s notice says
The notice points out that one of the images featuring Shakun Rani’s name in Rahul Gandhi’s presentation “is not a document issued by the polling officer.” The CEO reiterated that, according to Shakun Rani’s own statement, she voted only once.
Rahul Gandhi has been asked to provide documentary proof for his allegations, especially since he claimed that all the data he cited came from the Election Commission.
