New Delhi, 10 Nov

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Monday that exposing ‘vote chori’ in the State led to exposing similar election fraud in other states like Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar.

He was speaking to reporters in Delhi after presenting the 1.12 crore signatures collected from across Karnataka as part of the Congress'campaign against the alleged vote theft.

Asserting that ‘vote chori’ did happen, he said “It was the AICC Research wing of Karnataka that first exposed the vote theft”.

The Congress leader said that the fight against vote theft was started by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from Freedom Park in Bengaluru.

"I am happy that after Karnataka, this has reached Maharashtra, Bihar and Haryana," he noted while thanking party workers at all levels for working hard to get the signatures. "We are presenting all of them to the AICC, which will hold a massive gathering in Delhi in the coming days."

The signature collecting campaign is still underway and the ones being collected now will be submitted at a later date, he announced.

The Congress leader also alleged the Election Commission has not done justice to the Bihar electorate as it has deleted a large number of poor voters and those migrating outside Bihar in search of jobs from the electoral rolls.

He claimed the EC was conducting the Special IntensiveRevision (SIR) of electoral rolls after admitting that "something wrong" was committed by "misusing its office".

DK Shivakumar asked, if vote theft didn’t happen, “Why did the SC intervene and issue directives when SIR was being carried out in Bihar?”

Though no government will admit their mistakes, Shivakumar said that "as a member of the political party which gave us freedom, our national anthem, national flag and our Constitution, it is our duty to protect this country and all of us must join hands to ensure that every vote is saved and democracy is saved."

Asked about Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy's statement that there are terrorists in Vidhana Soudha, he hit back, "Is Kumaraswamy part of the terror outfit? Is he also not part of Vidhana Soudha?”

Asked once again about change in leadership in Karnataka, DKS clarified, "I will not talk politics but only about saving democracy and the right to vote. One man, one vote should be ensured and irregularities should be removed”.

"We know that the Constitution and autonomy of institutions are being misused. We are urging them to give us justice; injustice should not flow from the seat of justice. We are trying to educate the entire country."