Karnataka polls survey blow to Rahul Gandhi’s claims: BJP

The BJP on Friday termed as a “severe jolt” to Rahul Gandhi as the Karnataka Government agency’s finding that most voters in the State believe the elections are free and fair, and said it raises questions about the “credibility” of the Congress leader and his ‘vote chori’ allegation.

Addressing a Press conference at the BJP headquarters, party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also alleged that the publication of the report by a Karnataka Government department also reflects a contradiction between Gandhi and his party’s Government in the State. He also alleged contradictions between the Congress and its allies in the Opposition INDIA bloc, saying on the one hand, Gandhi makes “baseless” allegations of “vote-theft” against the BJP and the Election Commission, while on the other, his own party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has accused the ruling TMC of “vote-dacoity”.

A study by a Karnataka Government agency has noted that the majority of the respondents across all four administrative divisions in the state believe that elections in India are conducted freely and fairly, and the EVMs deliver accurate results.

The findings are part of a study titled “Lok Sabha Elections 2024 — Evaluation of Endline Survey of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Citizens”, published by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority (KMEA). The survey report dated August 2025 was recently made public, sources said.

Latching on to the report, Bhatia said, “It’s a severe jolt to Rahul Gandhi, who keeps making baseless allegations of ‘vote-chori’ and plays politics of deception to mislead people.” “It’s his own party’s government in Karnataka, which, in its report, says that 84.55 per cent of people, who participated in the survey, said that they have full confidence and faith in the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the poll process. They said that the election process is fair and it provides a level playing field to all,” Bhatia said.

The survey report also noted that 83.61 per cent of people expressed their confidence in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the BJP spokesperson said. “This raises a question on the credibility of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha,” he said.

Last year in August, Rahul had alleged that elections were rigged by the Election Commission at the behest of the BJP to help the saffron party “steal” votes and win the seat in the 2024 general elections, citing an analysis of voter data about the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka.

The Congress leader also alleged vote-theft by the ruling BJP in Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly polls, citing his party’s analysis of voter data about certain constituencies in the two States.