Karnataka Poll Body Asks ECI to Examine Mahadevapura Voter List
New Delhi: The Congress party's claim that there are irregularities in the electoral rolls of Mahadevapura and Gandhinagar assembly constitutencies in Karnataka has reached the Election Commission of India's (ECI) doorstep a year after the party first raised the issue. This is not the first time the ECI has learnt of the party's concerns regarding the voter lists in these constituencies.
When the allegations were first made by the Congress, the election commission had said that political outfits should raise their concerns about voter lists at the "right" time, during the claims and objections period following the publication of voter rolls.
Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Mansoor Ali Khan, who is a secretary in the All India Congress Committee, has now shared on X a letter he sent to the Chief Election Commissioner in New Delhi, after first sending it to the State Election Commission, Karnataka. The letter asks the commission to look into the alleged irregularities "through the SIR process".
The SIR or Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls in underway in Karnataka. The draft electoral roll for the state was published on August 24. Special camps are being organised in the state to help those who were not included in the electoral list to file objections.
The letter to the ECI was sent on August 10, 2026, while the letter to the Karnataka EC was sent on May 21. Ali Khan also shares a response, which arrived from the state election commission on August 10, informing him that this complaint had been "forwarded" to the ECI.
It is now up to the ECI to consider the complaint "during the process of SIR" in Karnataka, says the state commission.
Ali Khan's letters relate to the Congress party's detailed analysis of votes polled in the Mahadevapura assembly constituency, which Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had said showed over 1 lakh fake voters.
The party made these claims in 2025, after the last Lok Sabha election campaign. It also alleged that the fake names were entered on the electoral roll through five types of fake entries. The party also claimed to have discovered irregularities in the voter list for Gandhinagar consituency.
The BJP won the Mahadevapura segment by 114,046 votes. Its victory margin in the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat, of which Mahadevapura is a part, was 32,707 votes.
In 2025 the Whitefield police had registered an electoral fraud case following a complaint by a local Congress leader Y. Vinoda. The complaint was based on Gandhi's allegations, made during a press conference in New Delhi on August 7, 2025.
The same day, the ECI had disputed the claims via a public post on X.
As on August 28, 2026, Karnataka has 4.46 crore electors on rolls, the Hindu reports, adding that around 43.81 lakh notices would be generated to people whose status as a voter is being challenged in the SIR process.
This article went live on September second, two thousand twenty six, at thirty-four minutes past seven in the evening.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
