Bengaluru: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, arrived at the 'Vote Adhikaar Rally' being held at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Friday.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, along with other party leaders, are present at the rally, which has been held to protest the alleged vote theft.
Tight police security measures have been implemented around Freedom Park, where the protest is taking place
Earlier in the day, doubling down on his 'vote theft' claim, Rahul Gandhi said that times would change and punishment would surely be meted out to those who were involved in the "scam".
"Vote theft is not just an electoral scam, it is a major betrayal committed against the Constitution and democracy. Let the nation's culprits hear this - times will change, punishment will surely be meted out," Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.
On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said 1,00,250 "fake votes" were created in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka to ensure a win for the BJP.
Taking the reporters through a detailed presentation of the 'fraud' at the Congress headquarters in Delhi, the LoP alleged that "collusion" had happened between the Election Commission of India and the BJP, which resulted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi securing his third term."Narendra Modi became Prime Minister with just a margin of 25 seats...Election Commission is helping BJP destroy the electoral system in India...The Election Commission is not giving us the data because of what we did in Mahadevpur (Karnataka Assembly constituency); if we do it in other Lok Sabha seats, then the truth about our democracy will come out. This is the evidence, criminal evidence (pointing to the physical voter list)," Rahul Gandhi said.
Karnataka CM Siddaramiah endorsed his leader's comments calling for the protests on Friday, "The 2024 election was manipulated to keep BJP in power. From controlling the Election Commission, to voter roll surges in Maharashtra, to silent deletions in Bihar - the pattern of manipulation is clear. Today, Shri Rahul Gandhi revealed the scale - over 1 lakh fake votes in Mahadevapura alone, flipping Bangalore Central. And similar tactics may have been used in several narrow BJP wins across the country. That's why the Congress party - along with the people - will take to the streets tomorrow. This isn't just a protest. It's a fight to protect your vote. Be there in large numbers."
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
