Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday claimed that his 2019 Lok Sabha election defeat from Gulbarga constituency was the result of “electoral fraud”.
The veteran leader said he has never faced defeat in his long political career, except in 2019.
He was addressing people during the ‘Vote Adhikar Rally’ here, where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar and several others were present.
Kharge also claimed that he was a victim of election rigging.
“I have won over 12 elections in my life except the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which I lost for the first time in my life due to the election fraud,” the Congress chief said.
He alleged that the BJP engaged in “bogus voting”, securing up to 20,000 votes in each of the five assembly segments under the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seats in 2019 Parliamentary election.
Kharge accused the BJP of using the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Income Tax department to “intimidate” opponents and gain power.
Citing the example of Karnataka, he claimed that the BJP toppled the then ruling coalition government by inducing defection of many MLAs, despite not having a clear majority.
“The same thing happened in Goa, Maharashtra and also in Manipur. They (BJP) never won any election, but they paid people and purchased the government,” the Congress leader said.
According to Kharge, “Modi and company” did not have a legitimate victory in the 2024 LS poll. Their win was achieved by “stealth”.