Bengaluru: The Congress government has objected to a survey by the State Election Commission, published by the Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority under the Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, stating that the survey was not sanctioned by the state government.
To the much chagrin of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Minister Priyank Kharge, the findings of the survey stated, “While recognition of the importance of each vote (above 81.39 per cent), and trust in the electoral process and EVMs was high (above 83.61 per cent), concerns over inducements and the influence of money and muscle power remained, especially in regions like Kalaburagi.”
It can be noted that Kalaburagi is the native place of Mallikarjun Kharge.
“Rural voters generally perceive the election process as fair due to effective BLO engagement at the grassroots. Urban youth, however, express concerns about elite dominance in electoral processes and lack of transparency in the voting process; apathy is thus evident among urban youth,” the findings stated.
Reacting to this, Minister for RDPR, IT and BT Priyank Kharge on Friday questioned the agency that conducted the survey and stated that the Election Commission of India requested the State Election Commission and sought the help of an NGO “run by an author of a book on the Prime Minister who also works closely with the PM’s Office”.
Minister Kharge said, “What could be expected from this survey? The data size is 5,000 people in more than 100 constituencies. The BJP is answerable for voter fraud that was reported from Kalaburagi’s Aland Assembly segment.”
He further stated that, as Rahul Gandhi said earlier, the Election Commission and the BJP colluded to carry out mass deletion of votes before the 2023 Assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 in Karnataka.
The survey commissioned by the Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar revealed that most voters believed that elections in India are free and fair, and further stressed that the trust in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) has increased.
The survey covered 5,100 respondents across 102 Assembly segments in the administrative divisions of Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Mysuru.
The survey, named “Lok Sabha Elections 2024- Evaluation of endline survey of KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practice) of Citizens”, was monitored by the Karnataka Monitoring Authority, Department of Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics, Government of Karnataka.
The survey was undertaken by the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement, Bengaluru.
The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach grounded in the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) framework. A total of 5,100 respondents were surveyed across 102 Assembly Constituencies covering all 34 election districts in Karnataka, representing rural, urban, and reserved constituencies across the state’s four divisions.
The methodology included structured questionnaires for the quantitative component and 23 in-depth interviews with diverse key informants, 57 focus group discussions with different voter groups, and 16 booth-level case studies in high and low voter turnout areas in urban, semi-urban, and rural areas for the qualitative assessment.
Study findings show that awareness of the voter list stands at 85.31 per cent among surveyed respondents. Findings also revealed high levels of EPIC possession (99.02 per cent) and voter list inclusion (98.18 per cent), though gaps existed in awareness about the voter registration process, especially in urban areas.
The evaluation sought to provide a holistic understanding of how electoral awareness, attitudes, and practices have evolved in Karnataka under the SVEEP framework. The findings aim to inform future strategies that are evidence-based, inclusive, and contextually relevant, ensuring that electoral literacy translates into meaningful, sustained, and equitable democratic engagement for all segments of society.
(IANS)
