Aland 'vote chori': K'ntka minister seeks Election Commission's probe
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Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister M B Patil on Friday said the Election Commission of India should take responsibility and order an inquiry into the alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) after a SIT found that attempts were made to delete over 6,000 votes en masse in the Aland Assembly segment ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, PTI reported.
Patil, who holds the industries and infrastructure portfolio, said everything that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had been saying all along has now come true.
"Now the truth has come out. This is what Rahul Gandhi has been saying all along—how the BJP came to power, its sins and illegalities. The Election Commission of India had been demanding proof. Now we have it," Patil told reporters here.
Citing reports, he said Rs 75 to Rs 80 was paid per deleted voter name in the Aland Assembly constituency in the state.
"We are talking only about Aland. This can be done across India. The EC should take responsibility and inquire into it. The BJP should answer now," he said.
The minister accused the BJP and the EC of dismissing earlier warnings. "Rahul is the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. He is like a shadow PM. You were asking him to file an affidavit instead of investigating. Now it is proved. Let us see what the EC and the BJP have to say on this," Patil added.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged voter data manipulation in Aland found that attempts were made to delete thousands of names from the rolls and identified at least six suspects involved.
Sources in the Criminal Investigation Department said the suspects were paid Rs 80 for every successfully deleted name. Requests were made to remove 6,994 names, most of which were found to be bogus.
Aland, located in Kalaburagi district—home turf of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge—is represented by senior Congress MLA B R Patil.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi cited the Aland case at a press conference in New Delhi while alleging large-scale voter data manipulation across the country.
BR Patil has said he would have lost the election had the names been deleted. He won the 2023 Assembly polls from Aland by a margin of about 10,000 votes against the BJP's Subhash Guttedar.