Under the signature campaign launched by Congress leaders against voter fraud across the country, Karnataka alone has collected 1,12,40,000 (1.12 crore) signatures, said Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President D.K. Shivakumar.
He addressed a joint press conference with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held at the Congress office, Bharat Jodo Bhavan, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
“Signatures have been collected from all Assembly constituencies and 40 districts where our party is politically organised. Our workers have worked with great sincerity in this campaign. Except for about 8-10 places, the response has been excellent everywhere. Signatures were collected booth-wise, and awareness is being created among the public about voter fraud,” he said.
“The petitions with these signatures will be sent to Delhi on November 10. Along with the district presidents who worked most responsibly in this campaign, these petitions will be taken to Delhi by air.
A massive public rally is being planned at Ramlila Maidan, Delhi, in the third week of November (November 25). This campaign will not stop here — areas that couldn’t complete collection will get three to four more days,” he said.
“Under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, a massive nationwide campaign is being conducted through this signature movement to protect democracy, the Constitution, and voting rights. In the Mahadevapura constituency, a study revealed over one lakh fraudulent votes. In one house, over 80 votes were registered; in one bar, 70-80 voters were listed. Rahul Gandhi exposed this with evidence and drew national attention,” he said.
“Now, Rahul Gandhi has also exposed 25 lakh fake votes in the Haryana Assembly elections. Protecting India’s Constitution and democracy is at the heart of Rahul Gandhi’s fight. This movement, which began in Karnataka, will spread nationwide to present people’s opinions to the President and the Election Commission. This is not merely the Congress’s fight — it’s a fight to protect citizens’ right to vote. People across party lines have participated,” Shivakumar stated.
When asked if the Election Commission is revising lists to cover up fraud: “After we exposed these irregularities, the Commission suddenly started ‘revisions’. Why now? Because we began this movement. To prevent this, the State Election Commission has decided to use its own separate voter list for local body elections instead of the central one. That will reveal the extent of fraud,” he said.
Asked about the Haryana case where a woman allegedly had 200 votes: “We have spoken wherever fraud has occurred — even where we’ve won despite it. In Aland, our candidate won despite such conspiracies. In Haryana, Rahul Gandhi exposed evidence-based irregularities, yet the Commission did nothing.
With modern technology, how can such fraud continue? The Election Commission itself is complicit,” he alleged.
When asked about demands for CCTV footage from polling booths, Shivakumar said, “Rahul Gandhi never asked to see who voted for whom. We only want data showing how many people entered the booths and when. For example, in Maharashtra, lakhs of votes were cast in the last hour — we just want records of that.”
HD Kumaraswamy accuses Congress of vote theft
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H. D. Kumaraswamy alleged that Congress came to power in the last Assembly elections in Karnataka by stealing votes.
“It is wrong for the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to accuse the BJP of vote theft. The very people making these allegations came to power in the state by stealing votes. If that is not the case, how were they able to predict so precisely that they would win 136 seats?” he alleged while speaking to the media after welcoming the newly introduced Ernakulam–KSR Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express at the Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru.
He added that Congress was the one that committed vote theft, and yet today they are criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kumaraswamy further questioned, “Did Narendra Modi ‘steal votes’ to ensure that the BJP won 67 seats in Karnataka? Congress leaders are misleading the public with such baseless statements. The people of the state are facing several serious issues; this is where their attention should be.”
He criticised the joint press conference held by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, alleging that they held a press conference just to speak falsehoods about vote theft.
“This is nothing but pettiness. The people of Karnataka have witnessed the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister making baseless allegations. They are using such topics only to divert the public. The day the people permanently send the Congress home is not far away.”