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A survey published by the Congress government in Karnataka showed that most people believed that elections were conducted fairly and their trust in EVMs had increased.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (Image: PTI/File)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was fact-checked by his own government in Karnataka, after a statewide survey published by the Siddaramaiah-run government showed that most citizens believe elections in India are free and fair, while people’s trust in electronic voting machines (EVMs) has increased.
The survey, which covered 5,100 respondents across 102 Assembly constituencies in the administrative divisions of Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru, was commissioned by Chief Electoral Officer V Anbukumar, according to a report by Deccan Herald.
The report, published by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority under the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, revealed that 84.55% of the respondents believed that elections in India were conducted freely and fairly
The survey found that 83.61% citizens believed that EVMs were trustworthy. This was a marked increase from 77.9% in 2023, showing that people’s faith in EVMs had increased. “Trust was highest in Kalaburagi division, where 83.24% agreed, and 11.24% strongly agreed, followed by Mysuru division with 70.67% agreeing and 17.92% strongly agreeing,” it said.
The findings of the survey ran contrary to the Congress, as Rahul Gandhi had spearheaded the vote theft campaign against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress government in Karnataka has decided to bring back ballot papers for local body polls due to “lack of trust” in EVMs, as per reports.
BJP Reacts To Karnataka Survey
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress government in Karnataka had delivered a “tight slap” to the lies spread by Rahul Gandhi and called him the “Leader of Propaganda”.
“This is the same Rahul Gandhi who has no problems with the Election Commission when Congress wins in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal, but when he loses elections, he blames the poll body. Dosh deta me nahi beta me hai (The problem lies with the son, not the data) but he does not want to accept it because he is living in a delusion,” he added.
Poonawalla said INDIA bloc leaders like Omar Abdullah and Supriya Sule had also distanced themselves from Gandhi’s false claims and now Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had shown him the mirror.
Last month, opposition MPs made a strong pitch for returning to paper ballots in elections, saying it will restore confidence of the electorate in the electoral process as questions have been raised on the reliability of EVMs. However, the BJP alleged that such a move would mean going back to the days of booth capturing.
January 01, 2026, 21:57 IST
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