CM Siddaramaiah accuses ECI of 'colluding' with ruling party, 'threatening' Opposition
Bengaluru, Aug 18 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of "colluding" with the ruling party and said instead of addressing the "vote theft" claims made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, it tried to threaten the Opposition.
The ECI’s credibility will remain in doubt until it honestly fulfilled its duty of safeguarding every citizen’s vote, he said.
"The Election Commission of India (ECI) finally spoke - not out of duty, but because the Congress, the INDIA Alliance, the civil society, and even the Supreme Court forced it to. And when it did, the mask slipped. Instead of behaving like an impartial referee, the @ECISVEEP looked like it was reading straight from the BJP’s script. Yesterday’s press conference didn’t answer questions raised by LoP @RahulGandhi - it only confirmed suspicions," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
During a press conference in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Gynaesh Kumar had said the electoral roll revision is aimed at removing all shortcomings in voter lists and it is a matter of grave concern that some parties are spreading misinformation about it and “firing from the EC's shoulder”.
The CEC rejected as "baseless" the allegations of "vote theft" and asserted that all stakeholders are working to make SIR a success in a transparent manner.
The chief minister described the ECI’s press conference as "shrouded in arrogance" and said the poll panel acted as though it was doing a favour by speaking directly, instead of hiding behind nameless, faceless “sources”.
"But what the country saw was not accountability, but an attempt to intimidate and deflect. Rahul Gandhi had shown serious mismatches in Bengaluru Central, using the ECI’s own data. From that one example, it is obvious that such anomalies exist in many other constituencies too. Instead of answering, the ECI tried to threaten the opposition," he alleged.
The CM pointed out that the Chief Election Commissioner asked for affidavits and oaths, as if its own numbers need certification before they can be trusted.
"This is absurd. A responsible Commission would have taken the mismatch seriously, verified it, and explained it to the public. By refusing to do so, it has only strengthened the suspicion that it is working hand in glove with the ruling party. And when it claimed to be impartial towards both ruling and opposition parties, it sounded less like truth and more like a bad joke," he said.
Siddaramaiah termed ECI’s dismissal of concerns about "fake" and duplicate voters as "shocking".
"It brushed them aside saying no one raised objections during the 45-day claims window, so the matter is closed. This is nothing but an excuse to escape responsibility. The truth is, it took time for @INCIndia to expose these irregularities because the ECI itself made the data inaccessible. We had to dig through thousands of pages in just one assembly segment of Bengaluru Central to uncover the mismatches. If this is the situation in one seat, imagine the scale across the country," he added.
Siddaramaiah wondered if the ECI would simply ignore the irregularities that would come to light after elections.
"Its constitutional duty is to protect the integrity of every single vote, not to shut its eyes when the problem becomes visible later," he remarked.
He alleged that the excuses given on machine-readable electoral rolls and CCTV footage were even weaker.
"The ECI said searchable rolls could harm privacy. But electoral rolls are already public records. Political parties are not outsiders - they are part of the democratic process. Denying them full, verifiable data will not help in protecting privacy; it will only hide errors and fraud," he said.
Slamming the ECI, the chief minister termed the so-called privacy excuse on CCTV footage as "laughable".
According to him, CCTV in polling booths exists to ensure transparency, not secrecy. To destroy that record after just 45 days is not protecting voters, it is protecting wrongdoing. And the biggest questions were not answered at all.
"Why was the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rushed in Bihar just months before elections and during floods? Why did Maharashtra suddenly record a surge of 70 lakh voters between 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections?" he asked.
"Why did the poll panel oppose Supreme Court directions that would have made the system more transparent and voter-friendly? Why has it not taken action on the evidence given by Rahul Gandhi? On every important issue, the ECI chose silence," he alleged.
Siddaramaiah reminded that democracy depended on trust.
"That trust is broken when the Election Commission dodges questions, intimidates the opposition, and shields those in power. The people of India can see this clearly. No press conference or grand speech will cover up the truth. The ECI’s job is to safeguard every citizen’s vote - until it does that honestly, its credibility will remain in doubt," he added.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) finally spoke - not out of duty, but because the Congress, the INDIA Alliance, the civil society, and even the Supreme Court forced it to. And when it did, the mask slipped.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 18, 2025
Instead of behaving like an impartial referee, the @ECISVEEP… pic.twitter.com/oMZvlzpTS7
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
