Former Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Subhash Guttedar on Saturday dismissed the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) raid on his residence as an attempt to distract public attention from key state issues. The SIT is currently probing alleged voter fraud in the Aland assembly constituency of Kalaburagi district.
“The allegations of voter fraud against me are completely false. This is being done to distract people from other issues. No voter names were deleted around my house,” Guttedar told reporters in Kalaburagi.
Referring to reports that burnt voter lists were found near his residence, he offered an explanation: “In view of the Diwali festival, workers had cleaned our house. They know nothing about voter lists or elections. If someone wanted to destroy such lists, they would not have done it near my residence.”
Targeting Aland Congress MLA BR Patil, Guttedar alleged that the voter fraud charges were fabricated. “They have brought people from their native places, taken them to Delhi, made them stand with Rahul Gandhi, and got them to issue statements. B. R. Patil is trying to get closer to Rahul Gandhi to secure a ministerial post,” he claimed.
Guttedar added that he had not received any official notice but would cooperate with the investigation if required. He claimed: “There is no development activity happening in the State because the treasury is empty. In this backdrop, the Congress government is creating controversies.”
The SIT, which is investigating the alleged voter fraud following complaints raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, conducted overnight raids in Aland town and reportedly recovered documents, voter ID cards, and burnt electoral rolls dumped in the Amarja River.
The SIT team, stationed in Kalaburagi for five days, had previously raided a call centre and several houses, seizing seven laptops and approximately 1,000 voter identity cards. On Friday night, the investigation expanded to include a raid on Guttedar’s residence, as well as the Apna Bar—allegedly linked to him—and the home of a chartered accountant.
Investigators also reportedly found piles of burnt and partially burnt election-related documents near Guttedar’s residence. Preliminary findings suggest the material was loaded onto a goods truck and dumped into the Amarja River.
The SIT, led by SP Shubhanvita alongside local police, has launched an operation to retrieve the dumped documents and is probing whether the call centre was used to manipulate voter lists. An official statement from the SIT is yet to be issued.
The controversy began when Rahul Gandhi alleged that attempts were made to delete over 6,000 votes in Aland during the 2023 Assembly elections. He claimed the matter surfaced when a booth-level officer noticed her uncle’s name had been deleted and traced the irregularity to a manipulated voter list.
However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) previously dismissed Gandhi’s allegations, clarifying that online vote deletion by individuals is not possible and terming the claims of mass voter deletion "incorrect and baseless." Nonetheless, the Congress-led Karnataka government has ordered the current SIT probe. At present, Congress MLA BR Patil represents Aland seat, after having defeated Subhash Guttedar in 2023.
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