KTR accused the Congress candidate for the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-poll, Naveen Yadav, of “taking over the duties” of the Election Commission and distributing voter ID cards illegally, including to minors.
Published Oct 14, 2025 | 10:34 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 14, 2025 | 10:34 PM
KTR warned that if the Election Commission does not act, the BRS would be forced to approach the Telangana High Court.
Synopsis: BRS Working President KT Rama Rao has demanded a comprehensive probe into what he described as large-scale “vote chori” in the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-poll, claiming that more than 23,000 new votes were added and 12,000 deleted from the rolls. During a presentation to the media on Tuesday, he cited multiple instances of alleged irregularities, called on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to respond to the allegations, and warned the Election Commission that if it fails to act, the BRS would seek the intervention of the High Court.
A day after alleging that the ruling Congress in Telangana had orchestrated systematic “vote chori” (vote theft) in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency ahead of the 11 November by-poll, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Tuesday, 14 October, demanded a comprehensive probe.
KTR claimed that more than 23,000 new votes had been mysteriously added to the voter rolls while 12,000 existing votes were deleted, creating what he described as “the clearest evidence yet of deliberate manipulation.”
He warned that if the Election Commission does not act, the BRS would be forced to approach the Telangana High Court.
“In one apartment complex where 43 votes are listed, the owner said she did not know they were. In another case, at Booth No. 125, a small house had 23 votes. The house owner himself said he didn’t even know who those people were,” he said, speaking during a presentation to media at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad about alleged irregularities found by his party workers during field verification.
KTR accused the Congress candidate for the upcoming Jubilee Hills by-poll, Naveen Yadav, of “taking over the duties” of the Election Commission and distributing voter ID cards illegally, including to minors.
“The Election Commission has already filed a case over the fake voter IDs distributed by the Congress candidate but what was troubling was that the Congress candidate (at that time he was only an aspirant) himself did it,” KTR said.
Calling the situation “a shameful assault on democracy,” he said even the Congress candidate’s brother, Venkat Praveen Yadav, has three voter IDs in his name.
“If fake votes exist even in the family of a Congress candidate, what hope is there for a free and fair election?” he asked.
The BRS leader further alleged that Congress leaders had used booth-level officers (BLOs) to carry out electoral irregularities.
“In one house belonging to a Congress leader, 32 bogus votes were found. Some of those names are also registered as voters in other constituencies,” he said.
KTR said the BRS had submitted detailed evidence of duplicate, fake, and cross-constituency voter IDs to the Election Commission.
“A resident of Sircilla, Srinivas Reddy, found that a fake vote was registered in his name in Jubilee Hills,” he said. “Many individuals have two or three EPIC cards each. And all these were entered after the election schedule was announced.”
KTR also said that in one voter list, 42 votes were registered under a house number that doesn’t even exist, calling it proof that “massive, coordinated voter fraud has taken place under the Congress government’s watch.”
The BRS leader said his party has submitted a written complaint to the Election Commission, seeking a full-scale investigation into the 23,000 newly added votes, immediate deletion of duplicate and fake entries, and action against officials involved in the malpractice.
However, he said the Commission had not responded even after 24 hours. “If the Election Commission fails to act, we will approach the High Court tomorrow,” he declared.
Questioning the credibility of the Election Commission, KTR said, “If our party workers could uncover such large-scale irregularities in just two days, why can’t the Commission, with the entire government machinery, identify and correct them?”
Turning his attention to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, KTR said, “He preaches democracy in Bihar and other states while holding the Constitution in his hand, but in Telangana, his party is trying to win elections through stolen votes.”
He urged Rahul Gandhi to respond to the allegations, saying, “Even in the home of the Congress candidate, fake votes have been registered for family members. If this doesn’t move Rahul Gandhi to speak up, what will?”
“Congress has shamelessly indulged in one election malpractice after another,” KTR said. “This is not just vote rigging – it is an attempt to undermine democracy itself. The Congress party and its leadership must answer for it. It is not vote chori. It is voter chori,” he said.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
