The Election Commission of India on Thursday rebutted Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's allegations of voter deletion in Karnataka in 2023.
"Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi," the poll body said in a statement on social media platform X.
The Congress leader had alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is protecting "vote chors" (vote thieves). In a media presentation, Gandhi cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to claim that the votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.
Gandhi demanded that the Election Commission stop this practice and provide, within a week, the information sought by the Karnataka CID in an investigation into voter deletions.
"In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for the deletion of electors in the Aland Assembly Constituency and an FIR was filed by the authority of ECI itself to investigate the matter," the poll body said in its response.
"As per records, Aland Assembly Constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and BR Patil (INC) in 2013," it added.
'Vote Chori'
The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said his new revelations were another milestone in demonstrating to the youth of this country how elections are being rigged.
He also made it clear at the outset that these were not the "hydrogen bomb" of revelations that he had promised, and those will come soon.
Gandhi cited details of alleged attempts to delete votes from Aland constituency in 2023. He also cited the example of Maharashtra's Rajura constituency, where he claimed voters were added in a fraudulent manner using automated software.
"I am going to make a serious claim about Gyanesh Kumar. I am not saying this lightly. The CEC is protecting vote chors and the people who have destroyed Indian democracy," Gandhi alleged.
Someone has been systematically targeting millions of voters for deletion across India, he claimed. "I am the leader of opposition and I will not say anything which is not backed by 100% proof," Gandhi said.
In Aland, someone tried to delete 6,018 votes and got caught by coincidence, he said, alleging that the names of voters of the Congress were being deleted systematically.
Noting an ongoing investigation in Karnataka, Gandhi said the CID has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission, asking for simple facts such as the destination IP from where these applications were filled and OTP trails.
They are not giving it because it will lead us to where this operation is being conducted, Gandhi claimed.
(With PTI inputs)
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