The Congress government in Karnataka has raised objections to a survey conducted by the State Election Commission and published by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority. The government stated that the survey was not authorized by the state government. The survey findings highlighted high trust in the electoral process and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), but also expressed concerns about inducements and the influence of money and muscle power, particularly in regions like Kalaburagi.
It is noteworthy that Kalaburagi is the hometown of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The survey pointed out that rural voters perceive the election process as fair due to effective engagement at the grassroots level, while urban youth expressed concerns about elite dominance and lack of transparency in the voting process, leading to apathy among them.
Minister for RDPR, IT, and BT Priyank Kharge questioned the agency behind the survey, alleging that it was conducted with the involvement of an NGO associated with the Prime Minister’s Office. Minister Kharge criticized the survey’s methodology, citing a data size of 5,000 people across more than 100 constituencies. He also accused the BJP of voter fraud in Kalaburagi’s Aland Assembly segment.
In response, Minister Kharge echoed Rahul Gandhi’s previous statements, alleging collusion between the Election Commission and the BJP to delete votes before the 2023 Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka. A survey commissioned by the Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar revealed that most voters believe elections in India are conducted fairly, with increasing trust in EVMs.
The survey, named “Lok Sabha Elections 2024- Evaluation of endline survey of KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) of Citizens,” covered 5,100 respondents across 102 Assembly segments in Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, and Mysuru. It was overseen by the Karnataka Monitoring Authority under the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring, and Statistics, Government of Karnataka, and conducted by the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement in Bengaluru.
