We demand accountability, answers and justice from Election Commission, says Karnataka Chief Minister

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, referring to The Hindu story on alleged voter fraud in Aland ahead of the Assembly polls in 2023 published on Sunday, said they demand “accountability, answers and justice” from Election Commission of India (ECI). 

“In Aland, a systematic conspiracy to steal democracy was exposed in 2023 when 5,994 forged Form 7s were filed to delete genuine voters, mostly Congress supporters. Thanks to timely intervention, these votes were saved. But the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe has now hit a wall because the ECI refuses to share crucial technical data needed to unmask the culprits,” he said. 

He also posed three questions: “Why is the ECI shielding those who attempted this fraud? Why are destination IPs and destination ports, key to track the origin of this operation, being withheld? Why are there no answers on weak OTP verification in ECI’s own apps?.@

“Is the ECI an independent guardian of democracy or acting as BJP’s back-office to legitimise vote theft?,” he further asked. 

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and IT & BT Priyank Kharge, from Kalaburagi district where Aland is, took to X on Sunday, and said: “If the ECI truly cooperates, we can get to the bottom of this fraud. We are just one step away from the truth, yet the commission continues to block the probe”.

“Why is the ECI refusing to share data? Who are they trying to protect?,” he asked. “The vote chori trail under the EC runs far and foul,” he said. 

Mr. Kharge had addressed a press conference in Kalaburagi, flagging the alleged fraud when it was uncovered in February, 2023, along with B. R. Patil, who was the first to complain about it.