Karnataka CEO asks Rahul Gandhi for proof on double vote claim

New Delhi: The Karnataka chief electoral officer on Sunday issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking him to share documents based on which he had alleged that a woman voted twice.

Soon after the notice was issued to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Election Commission once again asked him to either sign a declaration to substantiate his allegations of vote theft in Karnataka, Haryana and Maharashtra or apologise to the nation for making "absurd" allegations.

Karnataka's top poll officer told Gandhi that the documents will help his office carry out a detailed inquiry.

Gandhi had shown the documents at a press conference in the national capital last week.

"You have also stated that as per the records given by the polling officer, Smt Shakun Rani had voted twice... On inquiry, Smt Sakun Rani has stated that she has voted only once and not twice, as alleged by you," the notice read.

A preliminary inquiry conducted by the CEO's office also revealed that the tick-marked document shown by the Congress leader in the presentation was not issued by the polling officer, the letter said.

"Therefore, you are kindly requested to provide the relevant documents on the basis of which you have concluded that Smt Shakun Rani or anyone else has voted twice, so that a detailed inquiry can be undertaken by this office," the notice stated.

Responding to the notice issued by its CEO, the EC said, "Rahul Gandhi still has time to give a declaration on the first letter of CEO Karnataka or apologise to the country."