Vote 'theft': ECI 'lying', colluding with BJP, allege Congress leaders
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Friday alleged that the Election Commission has lied by saying that it has provided all the information with regard to the vote theft while the letter sent by the Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka on February 4, 2025 tells a different story.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday had alleged in a press conference that the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was protecting ‘vote chors’ (vote thieves).
Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, Priyank Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said the CID wrote 18 letters and the latest one was on February 1, 2025 where it asked the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to direct the concerned to provide the relevant information for the purpose of investigation.
Kharge read out the CID letter which said, "During the course of investigation, the IP (internet protocol) logs are provided. On perusal of the destination, IP and the destination port are missing. Therefore, it is requested to direct the concerned to provide the same and also provide the information document related to below mentioned queries."
According to the Minister CID had five queries.
These were: "Whether OTP/multifactor authentication facility is adopted by the National Voters' Service Portal (NVSP), Voter Helpline App (VHA) platforms. Whether the OTP authentication facility is extended to upload applications, if so, provide details."
"If authentication like OTP existed, whether the OTP will be sent to the mobile number used for login or mobile number provided in the form by applicant or both. Provide the certificate under 65B of Indian Evidence Act by the person holding lawful control user from where the logs were created during the activities and generated to produce before the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA). Further
the Honourable Supreme Court held that 65B certificate is mandatory for the admissibility of electronic device in the secondary form as evidence..."
"Direct the concerned to arrange a presentation with respect to the allegation made and step-by-step usage of NVSP, VHA and Garuda apps from voters/public perspective to the investigation team."
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) forwarded the letter to the Election Commission of India on Feburary 4, Kharge said.
In the letter to ECI, the Joint CEO said, 'The investigating officer has requested to provide certain information ….. related to the submission of online application for deletion of names in the Aland Assembly Constituency. The investigating officer has also requested to provide certificate under 65B of the Indian Evidence Act by the person holding lawful control/user from where the logs were created during the activities generated to produce before the LEA," the letter said.
Kharge said, the Joint CEO sent this to the ECI.
"Whom are you lying to? If you have provided all the information then why did you write this letter," he asked.
He underlined that the communication was between the ECI itself.
Congress MLA from Aland, BR Patil said that he got to know for the first time in February 2023 when Vijay Kumar from Kamanahalli village told him that a request has come to the returning officer to delete his name.
Soon, he was flooded with complaints. In all, 6,018 votes deletion request had come.
"I got alarmed. I met the officers in the state election commission, lodged a complaint to the CEC through Deputy Commissioner of Kalaburagi district on February 10, 2023," he said.
Later, he along with Kharge met the then Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena who found truth in their complaint and ordered status quo that no votes be deleted.
There were 6,018 vote deletion requests in Aland in 2023. Those who applied and whose name to be deleted had no information about it. EPIC numbers were used to delete the votes, the MLA said.
"This forgery was done to defeat me. BJP did it and the Election Commission did it. Without the collusion of the two, this cannot happen," he alleged.
Citing an example of Suryakant Govin, a retired teacher, Patil said his EPIC number was used to make a request to delete 12 voters.
When people asked Govin how he was requesting the deletion of votes, he said he has no clue.
Similar thing happened with Godha Bai, an illiterate, whose EPIC card was used for deleting 12 voters in 14 minutes.
"This is a major network. The mobile phones that were utilised for requesting deletion of votes were found to be in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and so on," he charged.
The office of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Thursday had said all available information with the EC regarding alleged attempts to delete 6,018 votes in Aland constituency in the run up to 2023 assembly polls, has already been shared with Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi.
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Om Birla attends swearing-in of new B'desh PM, says India stands ready to support BNP govt
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, and said India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation.
Separately, the speaker called on the new Bangladesh prime minister and conveyed the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Rahman to visit India, officials said here.
“Glad to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka today. India stands ready to support Bangladesh’s endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation,” Birla posted on X.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a post on X, “Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conveys his greetings to India and PM Narendra Modi to the visiting India Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at a courtesy meet following the swearing-in of the new government.
“Speaker Birla conveyed wishes and an invitation to India. Both leaders expressed optimism to work together for the well-being of the people of Bangladesh and India, pursuing a people-centric menu of cooperation.”
Birla also met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and other leaders on the sidelines of the event.
Led by Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept to power with a two-thirds majority with 49.97 per cent votes and 209 seats in the polls held on February 12, results for which were declared on February 13.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, registered its best-ever performance with 31.76 per cent votes and 68 seats.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) secured the third-highest number of seats, six, and 3.05 per cent votes.
Bangladesh had invited Narendra Modi to the ceremony, but the prime minister could not attend the event as he was scheduled to hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on Tuesday.
On reaching Dhaka, Birla said the swearing-in of Rahman was an important moment that would strengthen people-to-people relations and shared democratic values between the two neighbours.
“Honoured to be in Dhaka representing India at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government led by Tarique Rahman as the prime minister. It's an important moment that will strengthen people-to-people ties and shared democratic values between our two nations,” Birla said.
Birla was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials.
