Congress' 'election fraud campaign' hinges on B'luru rally

After Congress's landslide victory in the 2023 assembly polls, which provided a much-needed morale booster and halted its rapid downward slide, Karnataka has become a vital part of the party's national strategy.

- RAMU PATIL Assistant Resident Editor [e-mail]

Be it promoting Siddaramaiah government's guarantees-driven model of governance at the national level, or holding the first meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc allies in Bengaluru ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party has often turned to Karnataka to mount its offensive against the BJP dispensation at the Centre.

Now, as the Congress — especially the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi — has launched an orchestrated campaign against the Election Commission, all eyes are on his Bengaluru rally on August 5.

Ahead of the Bihar elections, the party has been making serious allegations against the constitutional body. The force and acceptability of the Grand Old Party's fight ahead would largely depend on its ability to provide substantial material to back its claim of what the party leaders have repeatedly termed as "voter fraud". The allegations have been rejected by the Election Commission of India.

As senior leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have claimed that Rahul Gandhi has "credible evidence of voter fraud", a lot hinges on the revelations he makes — if at all he does — on that day. It is unclear whether the LoP will say anything entirely different from what his party leaders have already said.