NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday launched a broadside against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his “vote chori” after a study by the Karnataka government found out that majority respondents in the state believe that elections in India are conducted freely and fairly and that EVM’s deliver accurate results.BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla cited the study report and claimed that the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha gets a “reality check”, each time he blames the EVMs or the Election Commission after losing the election.“Rahul Gandhi blames the EVMs and the Election Commission after losing the election,” Poonawalla said.“In Karnataka, a survey revealed that people consider EVMs safe and trust them… Each time Rahul Gandhi blames the EVMs or the system, he gets a reality check,” he added.This comes a day after Karnataka government body conducted a a survey across all four administrative divisions in the state titled “Lok Sabha Elections 2024 – Evaluation of Endline Survey of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of Citizens”.A total of 5,100 respondents were surveyed across 102 assembly constituencies, covering all 34 election districts in Karnataka, representing rural, urban, and reserved constituencies across the state’s four divisions — Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru.The findings assume significance amid the Congress’ campaign against ‘vote chori’ (vote theft), led by top party leader Rahul Gandhi, targeting the ruling BJP-led government at the Centre and the Election Commission of India.Also, they come at a time the Karnataka government has proposed holding all the future panchayat and urban local body polls in the state using ballot paper, citing alleged erosion of public confidence in Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).According to the report, 91.31 per cent of respondents across divisions agreed that elections in India are conducted freely and fairly, including 6.76 per cent who expressed neutral views.“Confidence was strongest in Kalaburagi division, where 84.67 per cent agreed and 10.19 per cent strongly agreed, followed by Belagavi division with 69.62 per cent agreeing and 19.24 per cent strongly agreeing. Mysuru division also showed high confidence, with 72.08 per cent agreeing and 15.08 per cent strongly agreeing,” it said.The Bengaluru division reported the lowest level of strong agreement at 7.17 per cent, though a substantial 67.11 per cent still agreed, the study said adding “neutral opinions were highest in the Bengaluru division at 12.50 per cent, compared to lower proportions in other divisions.” Disagreement was marginally higher in the Bengaluru division, with 9.67 per cent disagreeing and 3.56 per cent strongly disagreeing, though it remained very low in Kalaburagi division.As per the study, a large majority of respondents across all divisions trust EVMs, with 69.39 per cent agreeing and 14.22 per cent strongly agreeing overall that EVMs deliver accurate results.“Trust was highest in Kalaburagi division, where 83.24 per cent agreed and 11.24 per cent strongly agreed, followed by Mysuru division with 70.67 per cent agreeing and 17.92 per cent strongly agreeing. The Belagavi division also showed strong confidence, with 63.90 per cent agreeing and 21.43 per cent strongly agreeing,” it added.The Bengaluru division reported the lowest strong agreement at 9.28 per cent, though 63.67 per cent still agreed, the report added.The study also highlighted concerns about the influence of money in elections, with 44.90 per cent respondents agreeing that it is increasing and 4.65 per cent strongly agreeing overall.
