Karnataka Government Orders SIT Probe into Alleged Voter Fraud in Aland Assembly Constituency

The Karnataka government has established a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe accusations of large-scale removal of voters’ names from the electoral rolls during the 2023 Assembly elections in the Aland constituency of Kalaburagi district. This decision follows claims by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who alleged that a significant number of voters’ names were deleted in the Aland constituency during the 2023 elections, and that the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, was protecting the alleged perpetrators. The SIT will be headed by an Additional Director General of Police (CID). It will also include two officers of the Superintendent of Police rank, Saidulu Adavath and Shubhamvita. This development came after Aland MLA B.R. Patil filed a police complaint, stating that 6,670 voters’ names were illegally removed from the voter list across 256 polling stations. A government order stated the MLA’s complaint indicated that verification revealed that 6,018 applications were submitted to remove the names of voters, of which only 24 were found to be valid. The remaining 5,994 applications were reportedly submitted using different mobile numbers, without the knowledge of the concerned voters, and with malicious intent. The SIT has been granted the powers of a police station under Section 2(U) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and has been tasked with investigating all relevant cases across Karnataka. It will submit its report to the competent courts. The report will also be sent to the state government.