Expelled BJP MLA makes unsubstantiated allegation about Muslim voters

Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has alleged that Muslims, rather than Hindus, are responsible for bogus voting. He made the claim while speaking to reporters in Davangere on Sunday. Yatnal said he had seen Muslim men and women wearing burkhas and voting several times.

He said objections had been submitted against their inclusion in electoral rolls in Vijayapura. The report supplied no independent evidence supporting the allegations. He further alleged that Muslims had helped the Congress through fake votes for decades and said such practices occurred across India.

He linked the issue to the Election Commission of India’s effort to revise and “clean up” electoral rolls, saying the exercise had upset Congress leaders. Yatnal praised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and defended the Commission against criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “vote chor”, or vote thief, while Yatnal responded by accusing former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of gaining power through electoral offences including bogus voting and booth capturing.

Yatnal also said Kumar’s work during the Special Intensive Revision had ensured that West Bengal remained part of India, claiming that otherwise it would have become part of Bangladesh. The supplied material does not provide evidence for that assertion. Asked about the Kerala government reopening an inquiry involving Kumar, Yatnal dismissed the development as insignificant.

He said allegations were made against many officials during their careers and compared the matter with other unverified allegations involving political figures. The comments came amid political disputes over electoral-roll revision and the Election Commission. Yatnal’s remarks directly attributed voting fraud to a religious community, but the report contains no response from Muslim organisations, the Congress or the Election Commission to his allegations.