Amid 'Vote Chori' Row, Trouble For Congress Over Karnataka MLA's 2023 Win
The Congress and its 'vote chori' campaign - allegations the BJP is 'colluding' with the EC to commit voter fraud - faces a potentially embarrassing setback in Karnataka after the High Court declared the 2023 Malur Assembly election result invalid
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Bengaluru:
The Congress party's 'vote chori' campaign—alleging BJP-Election Commission collusion in voter fraud—faces a potential embarrassment in Karnataka after the High Court invalidated the 2023 Malur Assembly election result and ordered a recount.
In 2023, Congress achieved a surprising victory in Karnataka's elections, securing 135 of 224 seats, a significant improvement from their 2018 performance, while the BJP won only 66 seats.
KY Nanjegowda of Congress won the Malur seat by a slim margin of 248 votes against BJP candidate Manjunath Gowda. The latter contested the results, citing counting irregularities.
The court noted that the District Election Officer failed to provide video documentation of the vote count, raising "procedural concerns" that led to invalidating the result and ordering a recount.
The High Court has granted a 30-day interim stay to allow time for a Supreme Court appeal.
This development represents the second challenge to Congress' 'vote chori' narrative in Karnataka, following Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's admission last month about his own 1991 Lok Sabha election loss to Congress while running as a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate, which he attributed to "fraud."
READ | "Defeated By Fraud In 1991": Siddaramaiah's 'Vote Chori' Check
Congress has intensified its 'vote chori' campaign ahead of the Bihar election, particularly regarding controversies surrounding the state's "Special Intensive Revision" of voter lists.
The opposition party previously highlighted alleged voter fraud cases in Karnataka's Lok Sabha election and Maharashtra's Assembly poll last year. During PowerPoint presentations to the INDIA bloc last month, Rahul Gandhi emphasized suspicious voting patterns in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura, part of a Lok Sabha constituency Congress was expected to win but lost.
READ | Rahul Gandhi's "Voter Fraud" Powerpoint At INDIA Bloc Dinner Meet
Mr. Gandhi cited electoral records showing 80 people registered at a single one-room residence as evidence of fraud, though the property owner later denied these claims when speaking to NDTV.
On September 1, Gandhi escalated his rhetoric, declaring: "BJP people, be ready, a 'vote chori' hydrogen bomb is coming."
READ | 'Confused' BJP Snaps At Rahul Gandhi's 'Vote Chori' Bomb Remark
The Election Commission has strongly denied any collusion or fraud allegations, demanding that Mr. Gandhi provide evidence for his claims. BJP has dismissed these accusations and shifted the narrative by highlighting that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was briefly and illegally included on a voter list 45 years ago, before she became an Indian citizen.
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