‘Is ECI now BJP’s back office for vote chori?’: Kharge slams poll body over probe on Karnataka voter fraud

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday slammed the Election Commission of India, questioning whether the poll body has become “BJP’s back-office for vote theft.

In a post on X, Kharge shared a media report on the alleged EC’s decision to withhold details in a probe related to voter fraud in Karnataka’s Aland Constituency. Kharge shared the chronological details of what he believed was the “massive deletion” of voters in the Aland constituency ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2023.

“Is the Election Commission of India (ECI) now the BJP’s back office for vote chori? Understand the chronology. Ahead of the May 2023 Karnataka elections, Congress had exposed a massive deletion of voters in the Aland Constituency. Thousands of voters were stripped of their rights through a very sophisticated operation of forging Form 7 applications,” Kharge said.

“In Feb 2023, a case was filed. The probe revealed 5,994 forged applications – clear evidence of a massive attempt at voter fraud. The Congress government then ordered a CID probe to catch the culprits”, he added.

Is the Election Commission of India (ECI) now BJP’s Back-Office for #VoteChori?

Understand the chronology

Ahead of the May 2023 Karnataka elections, Congress had exposed massive deletion of voters: in Aland Constituency

Thousands of voters were stripped of their rights… pic.twitter.com/HZ5Qs1XFfs

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 7, 2025

The Congress President then accused ECI of “stonewalling” the crucial information required for the probe, alleging that the poll body is “shielding” those behind the “Vote Chori”. But here’s the twist: while ECI had earlier shared part of the documents needed to trace the forgery, it has now stonewalled the crucial information — effectively shielding those behind Vote Chori !” Kharge alleged.

He further questioned EC’s intention for allegedly blocking the evidence required for the probe, emphasising the need to protect the Indian democracy. “Why has the ECI suddenly BLOCKED vital evidence? Who is it protecting? BJP’s Vote Chori department? Is the ECI bending under BJP pressure to derail the CID probe?” Individual’s right to vote needs to be protected. INDIAN Democracy needs to be protected.” Kharge said.

Congress candidate Bhojaraj won from the Aland constituency in the Karnataka Assembly election in 2023 with a margin of nearly 10,000 votes against the BJP’s Subhash Guttedar. (ANI)