ECI has no right to issue notice to Rahul Gandhi, says K’taka Dy CM Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Reacting strongly to the issuance of a notice to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Monday said the State Election Commission has no authority to issue such a notice to him.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Shivakumar, when asked about the matter, said, “Let them issue a notice — who are they to issue a notice to Rahul Gandhi? We have issued a notice to them. We have the power to issue notices, and we will serve one to them.”

“The Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka does not have any powers to issue such a notice. Which affidavit are they asking for, and which one is supposed to be submitted? We have won the election in a democratic process. You (the Election Commission) have the right to conduct free and fair elections, but you have no right to issue notices to us. Whatever the matter is, we will respond to it legally,” he said.

It can be recalled that Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V. Anbukumar had issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi asking him to produce relevant documents regarding his charges of election fraud. The CEO also underlined in the notice that the document shown in the press conference by Rahul Gandhi was not official.

The notice was issued to Rahul Gandhi on Sunday and asked him to provide the necessary documents to inquire into allegations made in his press conference in Delhi on August 7.

The notice addressed to Rahul Gandhi stated, “In your press conference, you have stated that the documents shown in your presentation are from the records of the Election Commission of India. You have said: “This is EC data”. You have also stated that, as per the records given by the polling officer, Smt. Shakun Rani has voted twice. You have said, “Es ID card per do baar vote laga hai, wo jo tick hai, polling booth ke officer ki hai (Voting has been done twice on this Voter ID card. These ticks have been made by the polling officer)”.

“On inquiry, Smt. Shakun Rani has stated that she has voted only once and not twice, as alleged by you,” the CEO stated.

“Therefore, you are kindly requested to provide the relevant documents on the basis of which you have concluded that Smt. Shakun Rani or anyone else has voted twice, so that a detailed inquiry can be undertaken by this office,” the CEO stated in the notice addressed to Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing a massive gathering during the “Our Vote, Our Right, Our Fight” rally against alleged election fraud, Rahul Gandhi, on August 8, had demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) provide the electronic voters’ list for the past 10 years along with video recordings. He warned that failure to do so would amount to the ECI concealing a crime.

Rahul Gandhi said that if the ECI is withholding data, it indicates collusion with the BJP in committing electoral fraud.

IANS