Bengaluru, July 26 -- Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday defended Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's claim of large-scale voter list manipulation in Karnataka, stating that such tampering may have influenced the outcome of the recent Lok Sabha elections. He also took aim at the Election Commission, arguing that the constitutional body had failed to act decisively in previous complaints related to voter rolls.

Responding to the poll panel's comment that the Congress had not submitted a formal complaint regarding alleged voter fraud, Siddaramaiah said, "Even if voter manipulation has occurred, by the time the legal process is complete, the government's term is over. That's the reality we are dealing with." He added that in several cases, th...