No record of 2023 letter on forged voter entries: Chief electoral officer to ex-minister | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: The Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO) has said there are no records of any letter or complaint filed by former minister and Congress functionary H Nagesh on alleged forged entries in the 2023 electoral rolls of Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Bengaluru.This comes days ahead of Lok Sabha opposition leader and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Bengaluru to address alleged vote theft involving the same Mahadevpura segment during the 2024 parliamentary elections.In a communication Friday, the CEO’s office responded to Nagesh’s July 31 request, clarifying no such letter had been received from him during April 2023 — the time period during which he claims to have submitted the complaint.Nagesh had requested a copy of the document, saying he had misplaced the original set of papers. In his July 31 letter, Nagesh claimed the documents submitted in April 2023 listed fake or forged entries in the voter list of Mahadevapura.“This issue is of grave concern as it affects the transparency and fairness of the electoral process,” he wrote.However, the CEO’s office has clarified: “This office does not have records of any such letter received from you during April 2023 on the issue of electoral rolls with a list containing details of alleged forged entries… which you have suddenly raised now.”It also noted that the contesting candidate had been provided the statutory electoral rolls during the elections as per norms.“Since then, you have not filed any election petition… nor any appeal… against entries in the electoral rolls published in 2023,” the CEO said, citing provisions of the Representation of the People Act.