English
Konkani
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his critique of the Election Commission of India (ECI) by accusing it of overseeing a mass deletion of voters in Karnataka during the 2023 Assembly elections. He claimed that tens of thousands of voter IDs, especially from Congress strongholds, were removed using fake logins and phone numbers originating outside Karnataka, allegedly orchestrated via a centralised software system rather than isolated individual actions. Gandhi detailed a specific instance in the Aland Assembly constituency where around 6,018 voter deletions were attempted through impersonation, revealing how even those whose votes were deleted were unaware of the act, which was only caught by local vigilance. He also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding those responsible, citing repeated requests for data by Karnataka CID—including destination IPs of devices and OTP trails—being ignored by the Election Commission. Gandhi described the situation as a grave threat to the Constitution and Indian democracy, urging the release of data within a week or risk confirming collusion.
Rejecting these allegations as “incorrect” and “baseless,” the Election Commission clarified that no vote deletion can happen online without giving the affected elector an opportunity to be heard. The commission acknowledged some unsuccessful deletion attempts in Aland, for which it had itself filed an FIR to investigate, and noted that the seat changed hands from BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar in 2018 to Congress’s BR Patil in 2023, implying a democratic process was upheld.In response, BJP MP Anurag Thakur criticized Rahul Gandhi’s claims, calling them routine and motivated by frustration after Congress’s electoral losses, accusing him of making baseless allegations and routinely being reprimanded by courts.This political exchange highlights escalating tensions over election integrity and transparency in India ahead of future polls
Key Points:
- Rahul Gandhi alleges centralized mass deletion of voter IDs using software and fake credentials, mainly targeting Congress-supporting communities.
- Claims Karnataka CID made 18 formal requests for data from the ECI, all allegedly ignored.
- Election Commission refutes claims, insisting legal procedures prevent unnoticed voter deletion; filed FIR for unsuccessful deletion attempts in Aland.
- BJP dismisses allegations as politically motivated and baseless.
- Aland constituency saw a BJP win in 2018 and a Congress win in 2023.
