The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claims that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was shielding those involved in voter deletion scams, calling the allegations “incorrect and baseless.”
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.”
The EC also insisted that no voter is to be dropped from the rolls without due process. "No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person." the statement explained.Addressing Gandhi’s concerns about Karnataka’s Aland constituency, the Commission acknowledged that attempts were made in 2023 to delete voters fraudulently but stressed that these attempts were unsuccessful. An FIR was filed by the Election Commission itself to ensure a proper investigation.
The EC highlighted that the electoral outcomes in Aland were legitimate, noting that BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar won in 2018 and Congress’ BR Patil won in 2023.
Earlier during the day, Mr. Gandhi had made a blistering attack on CEC Gyanesh Kumar, charging him with shielding "vote chors" and those who had "ruined Indian democracy." He charged voter deletions were being systematically carried out all over India through automated software, giving examples from Karnataka's Aland and Maharashtra's Rajura constituencies.
Gandhi alleged that Karnataka CID had written 18 letters to the Election Commission in the last 18 months asking for technical information about deletions of voters, but the commission had not replied.
“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.”
