Congress leader and Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been issued a notice by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka state for alleging vote theft in the Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi recently claimed at a conference in Delhi that there were significant irregularities and vote theft in the voter list of the Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Bengaluru. He cited the example of a 70-year-old female voter, Shakun Rani. Rahul Gandhi alleged that Shakun Rani voted twice. He also presented some documents in this regard.
However, in the initial inquiry, Shakun Rani refuted the allegation, stating, “I voted only once.” It was also found that the 'tick-marked' document presented by Rahul Gandhi was not given by the official voting officer. Therefore, the commission has instructed Rahul Gandhi to submit all the original evidence related to the matter. Instructions have been given to submit an affidavit regarding the allegations of vote theft within 10 days.
Double voting in the Indian election process is considered a serious offense. If found guilty, there is provision for action under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and removal of the name from the voter list.