The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday dismissed as “incorrect and baseless” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was shielding those involved in voter deletion scams.
In a strongly worded response, the poll body said: “Allegations made by Shri Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Shri Rahul Gandhi.”
EC further clarified that no voter can be removed from the rolls without due process: “No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person.”
On the issue flagged by Gandhi regarding Karnataka’s Aland constituency, the Commission admitted that attempts were made in 2023 to fraudulently delete voters but stressed that these were unsuccessful. An FIR was filed by the Election Commission itself to ensure the matter was investigated.
EC also pointed out that elections in Aland reflected fair outcomes, with BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar winning in 2018 and Congress’ BR Patil in 2023.
What Rahul Gandhi claimed
Earlier in the day, Gandhi had launched a sharp attack on CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of protecting “vote chors” and those who had “destroyed Indian democracy.” He alleged that voter deletions were being carried out systematically across the country using automated software, citing instances from Karnataka’s Aland and Maharashtra’s Rajura constituencies.
Gandhi claimed that the Karnataka CID had written 18 times to the Election Commission over the past 18 months, seeking technical details related to voter deletions, but the poll body had not shared the information.
“EC knows who is doing this. They are defending the murderers of democracy,” the Leader of Opposition charged, while promising to soon reveal what he called a “hydrogen bomb” of evidence on “vote chori.”
