Cong delegation submits complaint on ‘election fraud’

Bengaluru: A delegation of Congress leaders, led by party’s Karnataka unit President D.K. Shivakumar who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, on Friday submitted a complaint to the Karnataka State Election Commission office here regarding ‘electoral fraud’ in Mahadevapura and several other constituencies. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, in reply to the representation, asked the Congress party to submit the documents related to the complaint along with the declaration/oath as per Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, so as to act on the complaint. In a major development to the election fraud allegations, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka V. Anbukumar on Thursday sought a signed declaration from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the issue. The declaration states that providing false information will be considered a punishable offence.

The delegation included KPCC Working President and Rajya Sabha member G.C. Chandrashekhar, BDA Chairman and MLA N.A. Haris, and MLC Basanagouda Badarli. Speaking to media, Shivakumar said: “We have submitted a request to the Election Commission to conduct a thorough verification of the electoral rolls across the entire state.”When asked about the Election Commission’s demand for an affidavit from Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar responded: “What affidavit do they need? I and Rahul Gandhi ourselves are affidavits. After contesting and winning elections, we’ve already submitted affidavits. What more do they want? If we are lying, hang us. Has the Commission denied Rahul Gandhi’s allegations? They are demanding an affidavit now only to delay things. The data we have was gathered through RTI.”