SIR 'institutionalised chori'; EC colluding with BJP to carry out 'vote theft': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Describing the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls as an "institutionalised chori", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed that the Election Commission is "openly colluding" with the BJP to carry out this "theft" with the objective of taking away the voting rights of the poor.
Gandhi made the charge in a video released on his YouTube channel in which he also claimed that SIR has been brought in Bihar because the EC knows that "we have caught their chori".
He alleges that the Election Commission (EC) and the BJP are "colluding" to "steal elections".
A day after he held a press conference in which he pointed to a "vote chori" model being allegedly used in various constituencies across the country, Gandhi released the video explaining the investigation done by the Congress and what the analysis of data of an assembly segment in Karnataka from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls suggests.
Citing the probe, Gandhi goes on to repeat his claims in the video that over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" through five types of manipulation in the assembly segment of Mahadevapura in Karnataka's Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat.
He says that 1,00,250 votes were stolen in the Mahadevapura assembly segment in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"I am confident that there are more than 100 such seats in India. What has happened here has happened in those seats as well," Gandhi says.
"If the BJP had 10-15 seats less, Modi would not have been the prime minister and there would have been an INDIA bloc government," he says in the video and goes on to talk about the five types of 'vote chori' found in the Mahadevapura assembly segment.
Gandhi claims there was a theft of 1,00,250 votes in the Mahadevapura segment, with 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters or single-address voters, 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters misusing Form 6 of new voters.
He goes on to describe each form of manipulation with examples on the screen.
Under the 'duplicate voter' header, Gandhi claims that 11,965 such voters were found in the Mahadevapura segment.
He cites that Gurkeerat Singh Dang appeared on the voters' list four times at as four different booths. The former Congress chief also cites the example of another person being registered as a voter in different states.
Gandhi claims that there were 40,009 voters with fake and invalid addresses, showing on screen how several people in the Mahadevapura segment were registered with 'House Number 0'.
Under the header of bulk voters or single address voters, there were 10,452 voters in Mahadevapura, Gandhi says and cites that 'House number 35' having 80 registered voters.
He further claims that there were 4,132 voters with invalid photos and 33,692 voters who misused Form 6, meant for first-time voters. Under this header, Gandhi cites the example of one Shakun Rani, a 70-year-old woman registered twice in two months.
"The truth is that in India, the EC and the BJP are colluding to steal elections. The entire evidence is before everyone in black and white," Gandhi says.
"They know that we have caught their 'chori' and that is why SIR (Special Intensive Revision) has come. SIR is an institutionalised chori. EC is openly colluding with the BJP to carry out this theft. SIR's objective is to take away the voting rights of the poor," he further charged.
"In this investigation we have looked only at voter addition. But probably the number of voter deletions is much more than voter additions," he adds.
"We have caught just one method, we have not probed other methods. I am telling the EC and its officials clearly that what you are doing is not right. This is treason against the country," Gandhi says, reiterating his warning to the officials.
"Time will come, we will catch you and you will not be spared. It is critical that we expose voter chori," Gandhi asserts.
Pointing out that he was born into a political family, Gandhi recalls in the video that when he was small, in 1980, he along with his sister Priyanka (Gandhi) used to go out at night and stick posters for campaigning.
"I understand elections and have been fighting polls myself for the last 20 years. How polling happens, how polling booths are managed, voters list, form 17, I understand all this. Some time back we felt something was fishy," Gandhi says.
"Election results would be contrary to the mood. I remember in Uttarakhand, we lost the polls. I asked the candidate to go and find out how many votes we got where a road show was held. Thousands of people came for the road show but none voted in the polling booths. This was impossible, it cannot happen. Then came the results of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and we realised that there is something wrong," he says.
Gandhi talks about Madhya Pradesh where the party won 2018. He says the Congress government was stolen later and during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he felt tremendous anti-incumbency against the BJP rule.
"But in 2023, we only got 65 seats. This is impossible. Then came Maharashtra and we got our evidence for the first time. New voters emerged through magic between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Wherever these new voters voted their vote went to the BJP," he claims.
"When we had doubts we did a press conference along with our alliance partner leaders. We asked EC to give us the voter list and video recording. They neither gave us the voter list nor the video recording which raised doubts. It raised the question in our mind as to whether the EC is helping the BJP. Is the EC indulging in stealing elections? We set up a team and asked them to find out the truth," Gandhi says in the video.
He points out that EC does not give digital data but physical data which means lakhs of papers have to be examined physically.
The reason EC does not give digital data is that if it does so, its reality would be out, Gandhi claims.
Tagging his video on X, Gandhi said, "Vote theft is not just an election scam, it is a big fraud committed against the Constitution and democracy."
"Criminals of the country should listen - times will change, punishment will definitely be given," he added.
Gandhi on Thursday made explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in polls through collusion between the BJP and the EC, as he cited an analysis in a constituency in Karnataka and said it was "a crime against the Constitution".
The Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka on Thursday asked Gandhi to share the names of electors he claimed were either included or excluded wrongfully from the voters' list of the state along with a signed declaration for the poll authorities to initiate "necessary proceedings".
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
