Siddaramaiah expressed full support for Gandhi’s claims, stating that party workers across Karnataka had reported “sudden and suspicious additions of new voters, while names of long-time voters were removed without justification.”
Published Jul 24, 2025 | 8:39 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 24, 2025 | 8:39 PM
The Chief Minister further alleged that the BJP’s electoral success in the state did not reflect the public mood.
Synopsis: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has backed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, accusing the BJP of manipulating the electoral rolls with the support of the Election Commission of India. He said the Congress’s loss in the state was not due to public support for the BJP, but because of deliberate and illegal manipulation of the election process.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were compromised by “large-scale voter fraud”, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of manipulating electoral rolls in collusion with the Election Commission of India (ECI).
“It is now becoming increasingly evident that the Congress Party’s setback was not due to public opinion but rather due to the illegal manipulation of the electoral process, a manipulation carried out by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through its misuse of the Election Commission,” Siddaramaiah said in a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday evening, 24 July.
His remarks followed Gandhi’s claim a earlier in the day that he had “100 percent proof” of irregularities in the election process in a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, alleging that elections in India were being “stolen”.
According to Gandhi, the Congress had uncovered the ECI’s modus operandi of what he called “votes theft” by examining data from a single constituency in the state.
Siddaramaiah expressed full support for Gandhi’s claims, stating that party workers across Karnataka had reported “sudden and suspicious additions of new voters, while names of long-time voters were removed without justification.”
“[Rahul Gandhi] has been relentlessly exposing the misconduct of the Election Commission, revealing one irregularity after another. He has specifically pointed out the election-related fraud that took place in Karnataka,” he said.
“I fully support Rahul Gandhi’s statement that there is clear and undeniable evidence of electoral malpractice in Karnataka.”
The Chief Minister further alleged that the BJP’s electoral success in the state did not reflect the public mood.
“The results of the recent Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka have not only shocked us but also raised several serious concerns,” Siddaramaiah said.
“It is now increasingly clear that Narendra Modi’s election victories are not a result of his popularity or the so-called achievements of the BJP government. What’s coming to light is the harsh truth that these victories were driven by systematic voter fraud, orchestrated through the Election Commission itself.”
He confirmed that the Congress high command was holding discussions on the way forward.
“In response to the electoral fraud in Karnataka, we are currently holding discussions with Shri Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the necessary course of action. We are committed to defending the integrity of our democracy,” he added.
In recent months, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has levelled multiple accusations against the Election Commission of India, alleging voter roll manipulation, electoral malpractices, and bias in favour of the ruling BJP.
His allegations have focused on the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, a Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka, and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar.
On Wednesday, after the ECI said it had removed 52 lakh voters during house-to-house verification in Bihar’s SIR exercise, Gandhi said, as quoted by PTI:
“We just looked at one constituency and we found this. I am absolutely convinced that constituency after constituency this is the drama that is taking place. Thousands and thousands of new voters, how old are they? Thousands and thousands of them in one constituency.”
He continued: “Not 90 percent, when we decide to show it to you, it is 100 percent proof. This is one thing; voter deletion, voter addition, new voters who are way above 18… so we have caught them.”
Issuing a direct warning to the ECI, Gandhi added:
“I want to send a message to the Election Commission – if you think you are going to get away with this, if your officers think they are going to get away with this, you are mistaken. You are not going to get away with this because we are going to come for you.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
