Karnataka CEO refutes Congress leader's claim of forged voter list complaint in 2023

New Delhi, Aug 3 The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka has issued a firm response to a recent letter by former minister and Congress leader H. Nagesh, who sought a copy of a letter he claimed to have submitted in April 2023, alleging forged entries in the voter list for the Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency.

In a letter dated August 2, 2025, Joint Chief Electoral Officer S. Yogeshwar clarified that the office has no record of receiving any such document from Nagesh in April 2023.

The CEO's response came after Nagesh, in a letter dated July 31 2025, requested a copy of the alleged submission, stating that his team had misplaced the original documents listing forged entries in the voters list.

“This office does not have records of any such letter received from you during April 2023 on the issue of electoral rolls,” the CEO's letter stated, adding that the matter was suddenly raised now, more than two years after the alleged submission.

The election office further pointed out that a statutory copy of the electoral roll is always provided to contesting candidates during elections and is also available online.

“The office has a statutory copy of the electoral roll, which is available online and is always handed over to the candidates during the elections, including you while you were a contesting candidate,” the CEO's letter noted.

Interestingly, the CEO's office also highlighted that Nagesh did not file any election petition under Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, nor did he approach any appellate authority regarding the 2023 electoral rolls under Section 24 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Nagesh, who contested the 2023 Assembly elections from Mahadevapura on a Congress ticket, alleged that discrepancies in the voter list had compromised electoral transparency.

However, the CEO's response appears to dismiss the possibility of any prior official complaint being on record, raising further questions over the timing and intent of the renewed allegations.

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