Should Rahul Gandhi Move Beyond 'Vote Chori' Claim? Karnataka Survey Disputes Congress Leader's Allegations

With the Karnataka government’s own findings reinforcing public faith in the electoral process and EVMs, questions are now being raised about the sustainability of the Congress leadership’s continued “vote chori” narrative.

Congress has been alleging electoral malpractice after its every defeat. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, carried out multiple press breifings with voter list alleging that many electors voted multiple times and asked the ECI to make footage public of the concerned polling booths. However, opposition leaders like Omar Abdullah of the National Conference and Abhishek Banerjee of Trinamool Congress have rejected the notion that EVMs can be manipulated while saying that no 'vote chori' happened in their states.

Opposition Leaders Back EVM

While Banerjee is upset with the SIR process and accused the ECI of 'vote chori' through electoral roll manipulation, he had dismissed concerns about EVM tampering. He said that those who are raising questions about the EVMs should hold a demonstration on its discrepancies to the Election Commission. "I don’t think there is anything substantial in these allegations," he said.

J&K CM Omar Abdullah has also rejected Congress charges on EVMs. “EVMs can’t be a problem only when you lose elections...They are the same EVMs when you get 100-plus members of Parliament, and celebrate it as a victory for your party,” he said.

Congress Govt Report On EVM

While these are leaders from different parties, the Congress itself is running governments in states like Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka after winning the assembly polls held using the EVMs. Now, a survey report by the Congress-run Karnataka Government has shown that majority of the citizens believe elections in India are free and fair. The report also showed that people’s trust in electronic voting machines (EVMs) has increased.

A survey involving 5,100 participants from 102 Assembly constituencies across the Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru administrative divisions was conducted at the behest of Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar, Deccan Herald reported.

The findings, released by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority under the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, showed that a large majority—84.55%—of respondents felt that elections in India are held in a free and fair manner.

The study also indicated growing confidence in electronic voting machines, with 83.61% of respondents stating that EVMs are reliable. This reflects a significant rise from 77.9% in 2023, suggesting increased public trust. Confidence levels were highest in the Kalaburagi division, where 83.24% agreed and 11.24% strongly agreed that EVMs are trustworthy, followed by the Mysuru division, with 70.67% agreeing and 17.92% strongly agreeing.

Way Ahead Of Rahul, Congress

With the Karnataka government’s own findings reinforcing public faith in the electoral process and EVMs, questions are now being raised about the sustainability of the Congress leadership’s continued “vote chori” narrative. According to political analysts, the Congress party must focus on public outreach as the earlier Bharat Jodo Yatra has yielded a good result and grassroots connect. The experts are of the opinion that the grand old party has immense potential and it needds to regain the trust of the voters by taking their honest feedbacks and work on the issues hurting the party. Rahul Gandhi and the party may be better served by recalibrating their strategy—strengthening organisational outreach, addressing voter concerns on governance and livelihoods, and building momentum through constructive engagement, they said.