Karnataka Minister K.N. Rajanna resigns after his remarks on ‘vote theft’

The minister had sparked a row by saying that irregularities in the electoral rolls occurred while the Congress was in power

Karnataka Cooperation Minister K.N. Rajanna has resigned after he made a statement in public that “vote theft” took place during the Congress government’s tenure during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress high command instructed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to sack Mr. Rajanna from the Cabinet after his comments sparked a political row.

The Chief Minister is expected to make an official statement of the Minister’s resignation in the Legislative Assembly. Sources also indicated that Mr. Rajanna’s son Rajendra, an MLC, has handed over the resignation letter to the Chief Minister.

When the Opposition BJP pressed for clarity on the resignation in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Rajanna told the Legislative Assembly that the CM would make a statement.

A close loyalist of CM Siddaramaiah, Mr. Rajanna had questioned the party’s stand over alleged electoral roll manipulation, remarks that directly contradicted the Congress’s official stand on the “vote theft” and emabarrased the Congress high command. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had staged a protest against “vote theft” in Bengaluru on August 8, 2025.

Speaking to reporters in Tumkuru on Saturday (August 9, 2025), Mr. Rajanna had asked why Congress leaders had “turned a blind eye” to irregularities in voter lists and kept silent when they should have raised objections.

He said, “Look, if we just start talking about such things casually, there will be different opinions. When was the voter list prepared? It was prepared when our own government was in power. At that time, was everyone just sitting quietly with eyes closed? These irregularities did take place — that’s the truth. There is nothing false in this.”

Admitting that the irregularities happened openly, he said, “These irregularities happened right in front of our eyes — we should feel ashamed. We didn’t take care of it at the time. That’s why we must be alert in the future.”

“In Mahadevapura, there was indeed fraud. One person was registered in three different places and voted in all three. But when the draft electoral rolls are being prepared, we have to monitor it, right?...When the draft electoral rolls are made, we must file objections — that is our responsibility. At that time, we kept quiet and now we are talking,” Rajanna said.

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