In Karnataka seat where ‘vote chori’ claims first surfaced, over 800 voter IDs linked to 397 names after SIR

Officials verifying details during the public hearing as part of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Karnataka. File

While one of the aims of the special intensive revision (SIR) was to weed out duplicate entries from electoral rolls, The Hindu found that after the SIR exercise, Karnataka’s Mahadevapura Assembly constituency alone had 803 voter IDs linked to just 397 people. In several cases, more than three voter IDs had been issued under one person’s name.

This is the very constituency where the "vote chori (theft)" controversy first erupted, with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, alleging that over one lakh fake or stolen votes had been systematically engineered in the area to manipulate the outcome of the 2024 Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha election. The seat is currently represented by the BJP.

Following the SIR, some voters were found listed in the rolls with the same Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number in two different constituencies. In some other cases, voters were issued multiple EPIC IDs.

For instance, Madhumita’s name appears in the final SIR rolls of both Mahadevapura (Part 180) and Hebbal (Part 62), with the same EPIC number in both places. Her father’s name and age are also the same in both entries.

Similarly, Chaitra appears in Mahadevapura (Part 90) and Dasarahalli (Part 251), with the same EPIC number in both rolls.

At least seven such cases were found across constituencies, with the same EPIC number appearing against two entries in each case. These seven EPIC numbers account for 14 entries in the final rolls — three cases each between Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli, and Mahadevapura and Sarvagnanagar, and one between Mahadevapura and Hebbal.

In another set of cases, individuals have been issued multiple EPIC IDs. The Hindu found seven cases in which people held more than three voter IDs each.

The list includes a father-daughter duo, both of whom have multiple voter IDs in Mahadevapura. Santosh Kumar, 63, has five voter IDs — three in the same polling station (Part 232) and one each in Parts 233 and 234. His age, address and relatives’ names are the same across all five entries.

His daughter, Kriti, 27, also has two voter IDs in Parts 232 and 234. Her details are identical in both entries, except that one does not mention the house number. Both entries list Santosh Kumar as her father.

Besides this, The Hindu found more than 500 cases in Mahadevapura in which the same person had two or more voter IDs within a polling station. In 300 other cases, the same person had multiple IDs, but across different polling stations in the constituency.

For instance, in Part 2, consecutive serial numbers — 497 and 498 — are both listed under the name of Nithin, 18, with Prakash mentioned as his father. The only difference is the house number, one entry lists it as 00 and the other as 025.

In another case, The Hindu found that 51-year-old Girija, whose name was deleted from the draft rolls, now appears twice in the final rolls. The Form 9 report, which consolidates Form 6 applications, shows that she applied for inclusion twice — on August 14 and September 18. Her name now figures in Parts 484 and 487. Both entries mention the address at which she had been marked as ‘permanently shifted’, which had led to her name being deleted from the draft rolls.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said it had received no formal complaints about duplicate entries. The CEO’s office said it was monitoring complaints flagged on social media and by political parties, and that the cases would be verified.