KC Venugopal slams ECI for stalling probe into deletion of Karnataka voters' names

Bengaluru, Sep 7 (IANS) Accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of “acting like an agent of the BJP”, MP and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal said on Sunday that the poll body was trying to stall a Karnataka government probe into the alleged disenfranchisement of voters in Aland Assembly constituency in 2023.

The senior Congress leader alleged that the Election Commission of India was “hand in glove” with the BJP in the “daylight robbery of votes”.

Venugopal took to X and said, “The ECI blocking crucial documents in the Karnataka CID investigation on fraudulent voter deletion in Aland constituency once again proves their culpability in hiding crucial evidence that proves mass-scale vote rigging.”

“The Karnataka Govt has been conducting its investigation based on the ECI’s documents itself - which form the bedrock of all elections in India. For the ECI to withhold evidence is against their Constitutional responsibility of ensuring free and fair elections. They must ensure full transparency and stop acting like an agent of the BJP,” said Venugopal.

The Congress leader said, “This proves that the Opposition’s warnings are being proven right - the ECI and BJP are hand in glove in orchestrating a daylight robbery of votes. The ECI cannot evade accountability anymore; they must answer to the people of India for colluding in this crime against democracy.”

Venugopal’s fresh attack on the ECI comes amid allegations that forged applications were filed online in a bid to disenfranchise voters in the constituency ahead of the Assembly polls in May 2023.

The ruling Congress has alleged that the case registered by the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has failed to move forward since 2023, as the ECI has allegedly not shared destination IPs and destination ports, which are crucial to identify the devices used to make the alleged applications for deletion of voters’ names on the ground that they had shifted from their address.

--IANS

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