Over 800 voter IDs linked to fewer than 400 names in Mahadevapura after revision

Electoral rolls in Karnataka's Mahadevapura Assembly constituency still contain hundreds of duplicate entries despite a special intensive revision meant to clean them up. An investigation shows that 803 voter IDs in the constituency are linked to just 397 people. In several cases, individuals hold more than three voter IDs under their names.

Details Found

Mahadevapura is the same constituency where the 'vote chori' controversy first started when Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that over one lakh fake or stolen votes were created to change the outcome of the 2024 Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha election. The seat is currently held by the BJP. After the special intensive revision, officials found voters listed with the same Elector's Photo Identity Card number in two different constituencies. For example, voter Madhumita appears in the final rolls of both Mahadevapura and Hebbal with the same EPIC number, same age, and same father's name. Another voter, Chaitra, appears in both Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli with a shared EPIC number. At least seven such cross-constituency cases exist, involving 14 total entries across Mahadevapura, Dasarahalli, Sarvagnanagar, and Hebbal.

Multiple IDs

Beyond cross-constituency overlaps, people were found holding multiple EPIC IDs within the same area. The findings include seven cases where individuals hold more than three voter IDs each. A 63-year-old resident named Santosh Kumar has five voter IDs, including three in the exact same polling station, while his 27-year-old daughter Kriti has two voter IDs. Furthermore, over 500 cases in Mahadevapura involve the same person having two or more voter IDs inside a single polling station. In another 300 cases, the same person has multiple IDs across different polling stations in the constituency. For instance, 18-year-old Nithin appears twice with consecutive serial numbers in one polling station. Additionally, 51-year-old Girija, whose name was earlier removed because she was marked as permanently shifted, now appears twice in the final rolls after applying for inclusion twice. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer stated that it has received no formal complaints about duplicate entries, though it is monitoring social media and political party flags for verification.

Context

Electoral rolls are official lists of registered voters used during elections to verify identity and eligibility at polling booths. Special intensive revision exercises are carried out by election authorities to update these lists by adding new eligible citizens, removing dead or shifted voters, and fixing errors or duplicates. Mahadevapura remains a politically sensitive seat in Bengaluru given earlier high-level claims regarding alleged voter list manipulation.