Rumblings in Congress over Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegation. Karnataka minister asks, 'Why did we remain silent?'

Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations against the Election Commission of India seem to have created quite the ripples in his own party's rank and file. K Rajanna, Minister of Cooperation in the Karnataka government, recently questioned the Congress party over its silence on the alleged manipulation of voter lists during its tenure. 

He said the voter list used in the Lok Sabha elections was prepared when the grand old party was in power. Rajanna said, "If irregularities occurred, then why was no one speaking up at the time? Why did we remain silent?" 

Furthermore, he claimed that changes to the voter list were made, which played a role in the Prime Minister assuming office. Rajanna, however, acknowledged that fraud took place in Karnataka's Mahadevapura assembly constituency. 

"But when the draft list was being prepared, was it not our responsibility to oversee it?" he was quoted as saying by Telangana Today.

The minister further said, "These irregularities happened right before our eyes. Our silence back then is a matter of shame for all of us. We must admit this and be more vigilant in the future under Rahul Gandhi's leadership."

His remarks came as 300 MPs from 25 opposition parties in both the houses of the Parliament — Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha —  are planning to stage a protest march at the Election Commission (EC) headquarters today following Rahul Gandhi's 'vote chori' allegations. 

As per the Gandhi scion, the march to the EC headquarters is aimed at underscoring the need for a clean and auditable voter roll. 

"Vote Chori is an attack on the foundational idea of 'one man, one vote'. A clean voter roll is imperative for free and fair elections. Our demand from the EC is clear - be transparent and release digital voter rolls so that people and parties can audit them," he said. 

Opposition MPs will protest over the allegations of vote theft in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and also against the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. 

Gandhi's allegations include the presence of 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake or invalid addresses, and thousands more improperly registered.