Not A Shred Of Evidence Found In My Home: Karnataka Ex-BJP MLA To News18 On Vote Deletion Allegation

Last Updated:October 23, 2025, 15:07 IST

Guttedar has refuted both the allegations and the SIT’s claim of crucial evidence, calling it “a political conspiracy and a lie.”

Former BJP MLA from Aland Subhash Guttedar. (Image: X/SubhashRG_BJP)

Former BJP MLA from Aland, Subhash Guttedar, has said that the allegation of Rs 80 paid for each voter name deletion and the claims by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that they have found evidence linking Guttedar to “vote chori" is a “lie" and a political conspiracy. Speaking to News18, Guttedar insisted that not a single shred of evidence was found at his homes in Kalaburagi or Aland.

Guttedar has refuted both the allegations and the SIT’s claim of crucial evidence, calling it “a political conspiracy and a lie."

“When the SIT checked my house in Kalaburagi or my residence in Aland, they found nothing. Not a single piece of evidence. During Deepavali cleaning, some ‘waste’ papers were thrown out — that’s all," he said, rejecting visuals showing burnt documents outside his Aland home and some allegedly found floating in a river.

On the voters list found in his house, he said it has nothing to do with the allegations. “I have been a four-time MLA; obviously, voter lists will be in my house. It has nothing to do with this allegation. One needs to fill Form No. 7, submit an identity card, and hand it over to the tehsildar. Only then can a name be deleted. This is all a lie and a political conspiracy," he added.

The Karnataka Police Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by ADGP BK Singh, is investigating the allegations of “vote chori," which Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had earlier raised across the country. He had claimed that in Aland, names of at least 6,018 voters were fraudulently deleted.

The SIT said they have found crucial evidence that data entry operators were allegedly paid Rs 80 for every fraudulent voter deletion submitted on the Election Commission portal, with a total payout reportedly reaching Rs 4.8 lakh.

As part of their investigation, the SIT reportedly located a data centre in Kalaburagi linked to the voter deletion operation and recovered evidence from computer hard drives and other devices. Officials claim voter lists were found not just in Guttedar’s homes, but also in partially burnt bundles near his residence and others reportedly floating in a river in Aland.

“They found one voters list — just one. I have been a four-time MLA; obviously, voters lists will be in my house. It has nothing to do with this allegation. One needs to fill Form No. 7, submit an identity card, and hand it over to the tehsildar. Only then can a name be deleted from the voter list. If we wanted, it wouldn’t happen," Guttedar told News18.

The SIT has so far raided four different locations linked to Guttedar in Kalaburagi, including his residences and properties connected to his associates, including a local bar that is said to have been a hub for this voter deletion exercise.

Guttedar also accused BR Patil and senior Congress leaders of attempting to frame him. He claimed that Patil had raised the vote chori issue with Congress leaders and Rahul Gandhi as part of Patil’s efforts to become a minister in the current state government.

“BR Patil told Rahul Gandhi that vote chori had taken place in Aland. To go about this ‘vote chori,’ you need to fill Form No. 7, submit an identity card, and hand it to the tehsildar. No such vote chori has happened. This is political hate being played out. Patil wants to become a minister and is using his proximity to Rahul Gandhi to further his own interests. That is what this is about. It’s in the hands of the tehsildar — how can I go about vote chori?" Guttedar said.

When the raids took place at Guttedar’s houses, it was the first time allegations of voter fraud in Aland were directly linked to a BJP leader, claimed sources.

The SIT continued raids on Guttedar’s residences and those of his associates. Separate teams have already searched his house in Gubbi Colony and the home of his associate Mallikarjun Mahantagol in Vivekananda Nagar. Even a A goods vehicle allegedly linked to the case, with its driver, Vishal, absconding, has been found to be linked to this case, according to SIT sources.

Guttedar, who defeated Congress’s BR Patil by 697 votes in 2018, lost to him by 10,348 votes in 2023. Patil claimed that ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls, nearly 6,018 voter names were removed from the rolls using fraudulent methods to delete voters’ credentials.

News politics Not A Shred Of Evidence Found In My Home: Karnataka Ex-BJP MLA To News18 On Vote Deletion Allegation

Read More