INDIA bloc MPs to march from Parliament to Election Commission on August 11 over "vote theft" claims

The INDIA bloc MPs will march from the Parliament to the Election Commission's office on Monday to mark their protest over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and allegations of "voter fraud" during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, said senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that all the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are filling out "fake forms" in one room.

He said, "Rahul Gandhi has put forward such facts that no one can deny... The name of one person appears at multiple locations, including polling booths... Rahul Gandhi's demand is for electronic data of the voter list, which we can scan using software to determine how many votes have been cast on a single EPIC number... What is the reason for the SIR happening in Bihar? It was thoroughly tested in 2003, which took 2 years in Bihar, but this time they want to do it in 1 month..."


"All the BLOs are filling out fake forms in one room. The Election Commission says that so many people have died, but their list is not given... And tomorrow the MPs of the entire INDIA alliance, who are from all parties except the BJP and NDA alliance MPs, will march from the Parliament to the Election Commission's office..." he added.

Earlier today, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to submit documents to inquire into his "vote theft" allegations against the Election Commission of India.

In a notice issued on August 10, the Karnataka CEO stated that Rahul Gandhi has claimed to have documents presented during his August 7 press conference from the Election Commission of India records, alleging that a voter, Shakun Rani, voted twice based on data shown by a polling officer.

The polling body further stated that upon preliminary inquiry, Shakun Rhas denied voting twice. The CEO's office also found that the tick-marked document presented by Rahul Gandhi was not issued by the polling officer, raising questions about the authenticity of the claim.

The letter read, "In your Press Conference, you have stated that the documents shown in your presentation are from the records of the Election Commission of India. You have said: "This is EC data". You have also stated that as per the records given by the polling officer, Smt. Shakun Rani has voted twice. You have said; "Es ID card per do baar vote lagahai, wo jo tick hai, polling booth ke officer kihai"."

"On inquiry, Smt. Shakun Rani has stated that she has voted only once and not twice, as alleged by you. Preliminary enquiry conducted by this office also reveals that the tick-marked document shown by you in the presentation (copy enclosed) is not a document issued by the polling officer," it added.

The Karnataka CEO requested Rahul Gandhi to provide the relevant documents that form the basis of his allegation so that a detailed investigation can be conducted by the Karnataka electoral authorities.

The letter stated, "Therefore, you are kindly requested to provide the relevant documents on the basis of which you have concluded that Smt. Shakun Rani or anyone else has voted twice, so that a detailed inquiry can be undertaken by this office."