Bengaluru: Dipankar Sarkar, a 34-year-old meals supply govt, had taken the time without work on Friday as his spouse was unwell, serving to with the cooking and taking good care of their five-year-old son.

The Sarkars stay in home quantity 35 in a nondescript locality in Bengaluru’s Mahadevapura, inside earshot of the bustling know-how hall in India’s IT capital.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had levelled allegations of voter record manipulations within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and stated that this explicit dwelling had 80 voters registered to it.

“I simply heard that there are 80 voters registered to this tackle. I moved into this dwelling a few month in the past and we’re simply three folks in all,” the 34-year-old advised ThePrint.

Whereas the Election Fee has been dismissive of Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, they’re sending groups to confirm his fees.

On Friday morning, officers from the district election workplace confirmed up on the Sarkars’ residence, enquiring concerning the different 78 individuals who have been registered to this tackle.

“This explicit dwelling has 80 registered voters, however it’s not true that that many individuals stay there at current. Nor can we are saying for certain that 80 votes have been polled from that very dwelling,” Munirathnamma, the Sales space Degree Officer (BLO), advised ThePrint.

This discovery seems to supply the Congress, and presumably the Opposition, with tangible proof of voter record manipulation, significantly after earlier failed makes an attempt to nook the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP authorities on EVM fraud.

The allegations of voter record manipulation come even because the Opposition is constructing stress on the Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

Addressing a press convention Thursday and spearheading a protest on Friday, Gandhi had alleged widespread voter record manipulation, pretend addresses and voters amongst different irregularities within the Mahadevapura meeting section, the place the BJP had a lead of 1,14,046 votes within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In line with the Congress’ scrutiny of knowledge, as many as 1,00,250 entries within the voter record of Mahadevapura section have been manipulated, serving to the BJP win the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat regardless of trailing in different segments.

Gandhi has alleged that the BJP and the Election Fee colluded to ‘steal’ votes. “There are 6.5 lakh votes in Mahadevapura Meeting section, out of which 1,00,250 votes have been stolen. This suggests that 1 out of each 6 votes was stolen,” he stated in Bengaluru Friday.

‘All 35 houses of mine don’t have 80 folks’

The election official advised ThePrint that a number of of those individuals who have been registered in home quantity 35 of Muni Reddy Gardens have been principally tenants who maintain transferring home. “It’s a rental dwelling close to the IT corporations… a few of these folks give this tackle to the banks and the making of different ID playing cards and don’t change it after they transfer home,” she stated.

The BLO added that when election officers go to houses earlier than elections, the names of these not current will not be instantly deleted and as an alternative despatched to the ECI. She says that they mark them as ‘shifted’ however the names will not be deleted and these folks have the suitable to vote.

“We discovered 17 individuals who supposedly stay at that tackle. Most of them stay close by and have simply not modified their tackle in paperwork,” she stated.

“I’ve 35 houses and even when there are two per dwelling, it’s 70 folks. How can I maintain 80 folks in a single home? There are simply three authorized voters remaining on this locality since most others who have been registered right here vacated their houses across the Covid-19 induced lockdown,” Jayaram Reddy, the 67-year-old landlord stated.

He didn’t recognise even one of many names registered to Home quantity 35.

“I’ve been watching Rahul Gandhi making claims that there are 30,40,70 folks residing right here… present me 80 folks right here,” he stated.

‘Modi stole votes to develop into PM’

Rahul Gandhi had made a dramatic presentation Thursday, stating that the Congress needed to manually scan 7 ft of paper for only one meeting constituency.

He stated that the ECI refused to present digital knowledge and its papers will not be machine readable, making the invention that a lot tougher.

He alleged that there have been 40,009 pretend & invalid addresses 10,452 bulk votes, 11,965 duplicate voters, 4,132 invalid photographs and 33,692 cases of Kind 6 misuse (Kind 6 is for inclusion of voters in electoral rolls).

“EC and BJP have stolen greater than 1 lakh votes by way of these 5 methods in a single meeting seat of Bangalore Central LS seat. The Election Fee calls for an affidavit from me. It says that I’ll should take an oath. I’ve taken the oath of the Structure in Parliament,” Gandhi stated on the occasion’s ‘Vote Adhikaar Rally’ in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park.

He additionally questioned why the ECI had shut down its web sites in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bihar and different locations after allegations have been levelled.

“We demand that EC present us with the digital voter record of your complete nation, and election-related videography information. If they supply us this knowledge, we’ll show that seats haven’t solely been stolen in Karnataka, however the entire nation. If EC offers us digital knowledge, we’ll show that Narendra Modi grew to become the Prime Minister by stealing votes,” he stated.

The LoP added that Modi was PM due to a margin of simply 25 seats and it was not a coincidence that the BJP had received 25 seats with a margin of 35,000 votes.

Amit Malviya, the BJP’s head of IT cell, dismissed the LoPs claims. “These so-called 80 voters at one tackle? They’re rented ‘chawl’ residents, home helps, and safety guards who had voter IDs made earlier than transferring for work. They don’t stay collectively. They aren’t fraud voters. They aren’t all voting BJP,” he stated.

“Rahul Gandhi is now focusing on poor migrant employees—individuals who work arduous, earn actually, and aspire to be stakeholders in India’s progress. Shameful politics on the expense of probably the most susceptible,” he added.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

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Additionally learn: Can ECI demand oath from Rahul Gandhi on ‘vote chori’ allegations? Right here’s what the regulation says

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