Bengaluru, August 7: The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Karnataka, has formally written to Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, asking him to submit a signed declaration under oath regarding his recent allegations of massive voter fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The move comes hours after Gandhi, addressing a press conference in New Delhi, claimed that the elections were “choreographed” and accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of overlooking what he called “vote chori” (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes in the Mahadevapura segment, an area within the Bengaluru Central parliamentary constituency.
The Congress MP alleged that duplicate voters, fake and invalid addresses, and mass voter registration at single residences had tilted the result in favour of the BJP.
In a detailed letter dated August 7, the CEO Karnataka acknowledged the Congress party’s request to submit a memorandum and confirmed that a meeting with INC representatives is scheduled for 8th August 2025, between 1 PM and 3 PM. The letter was issued in response to KPCC’s communications dated 03.08.2025 and 04.08.2025.
Letter to Shri Rahul Gandhi, Hon'ble Member of Parliament and Hon'ble Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha
Expecting the signed declaration and oath@ECISVEEP pic.twitter.com/7CLG100V2r— Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka (@ceo_karnataka) August 7, 2025
The Election Commission underlined that electoral rolls are prepared with full transparency as per democratic norms, following the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and instructions issued by the ECI.
To counter allegations of manipulation, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka laid out a detailed timeline of the electoral roll sharing with the Indian National Congress (INC). The Draft Electoral Rolls for the Special Summary Revision (SSR) 2025 were shared with the INC in November 2024, followed by the Final Electoral Rolls in January 2025. Despite this, the INC filed no first appeals with the respective District Magistrates, nor did it file any second-level appeals with the CEO, Karnataka.
The CEO’s letter emphasised that, “As far as the conduct of elections is concerned, election results can be questioned only by a way of Election Petition before the Hon’ble High Court,” reiterating the legal avenues available to political parties and candidates under democratic process.
In light of Gandhi’s specific claim regarding the presence of ineligible electors and exclusion of eligible voters, the EC has now asked him to sign and return a Declaration/Oath under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. The enclosed annexure requires Gandhi to provide:
Names of person(s) proposed for inclusion or exclusion,
Relevant Part Number of the electoral roll,
Serial Number of the entry, if available.
In its official response under the ongoing #ECIFactCheck initiative, the Commission stated:
❌The statements made are Misleading #ECIFactCheck
✅Read the details in the image attached 👇 https://t.co/746fmzkCvl pic.twitter.com/gvhEXXto8I
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) August 7, 2025
“The statements made are misleading.”
The form warns that a false declaration is punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and giving false evidence falls under Section 227 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, 2023.
The ECI has further clarified that if Shri Rahul Gandhi genuinely believes the claims he made regarding alleged manipulation in the voter list in Karnataka, he must take formal action under the law. Quoting the relevant provision, the Commission added:
“If Shri Rahul Gandhi believes what he is saying is true, then he should sign the Declaration/Oath as per Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 and submit the same to the CEO of Karnataka by today evening itself so that necessary proceedings can be initiated.”
Conversely, the ECI asked Gandhi to refrain from making unverified statements if he does not stand by his own claims:
“If Shri Rahul Gandhi does not believe in what he is saying, then he should stop arriving at absurd conclusions and mislead the citizens of India.”
