Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of colluding with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and intimidating opposition parties, particularly in response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “vote theft” in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In a scathing post on X, Siddaramaiah claimed the ECI’s actions betray its constitutional duty to ensure fair elections, eroding public trust in India’s democratic process.
Siddaramaiah’s remarks followed a Delhi press conference by Chief Election Commissioner Gynaesh Kumar, who dismissed Gandhi’s claims of electoral fraud as “baseless” and accused opposition parties of spreading misinformation about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. Siddaramaiah criticized the ECI’s response as “shrouded in arrogance,” arguing it failed to address evidence of irregularities in Bengaluru Central, where Gandhi highlighted mismatches using the ECI’s own data. “Instead of verifying these anomalies, the ECI tried to threaten the opposition,” the CM stated, suggesting similar issues likely exist nationwide.
The CM challenged the ECI’s demand for affidavits to validate its own data, calling it “absurd” and a deflection from accountability. He highlighted the ECI’s dismissal of concerns about “fake” and duplicate voters, noting that the Congress uncovered discrepancies in Bengaluru Central only after sifting through thousands of pages due to restricted data access. “If this is the situation in one seat, imagine the scale across the country,” Siddaramaiah remarked.
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He further criticized the ECI’s refusal to provide machine-readable electoral rolls, rejecting their privacy concerns as baseless since rolls are public records. The destruction of CCTV footage from polling booths after 45 days, he argued, undermines transparency, describing the ECI’s justification as “laughable.” Siddaramaiah also raised unanswered questions about the rushed SIR in Bihar during floods and a sudden 70 lakh voter surge in Maharashtra between the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, accusing the ECI of ignoring Supreme Court directives for greater transparency.
“Democracy depends on trust,” Siddaramaiah emphasized. “That trust is broken when the ECI dodges questions, intimidates the opposition, and shields those in power.” The controversy has fueled tensions, with posts on X from Congress leaders like Randeep Surjewala labeling the ECI as the “Election Capture of India” for allegedly hiding voter fraud. The BJP, meanwhile, has dismissed the accusations as baseless, urging legal challenges over public campaigns.
As the debate intensifies, Siddaramaiah’s call for ECI accountability underscores broader concerns about electoral integrity, with implications for upcoming state elections.
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