Vote theft scandal: Rahul Gandhi's Press Conference Sparks Controvercy Against BJP and ECI

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has intensified his criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that a large number of votes from Congress-leaning areas in Karnataka were deliberately removed during the 2023 Assembly elections.

According to Gandhi, fake login credentials and out-of-state mobile numbers were used to carry out mass deletions of voter IDs. He further claimed that the exercise was not the work of individuals but was being centrally executed with the help of software. However, Election Commission sources dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and “factually incorrect.” They pointed out that the Commission itself had filed an FIR in connection with suspicious deletion attempts in the Aland constituency during the 2023 polls. “No member of the public can remove a voter’s name online. No deletion is carried out without giving the affected voter an opportunity to be heard,” an official clarified.

The ECI noted that although attempts were made to delete electors in Aland, the effort had failed. It also highlighted that BR Patil of the Congress and Subhash Guttedar of the BJP had won the Aland seat in 2023 and 2018, respectively.

Gandhi, however, maintained that the problem is systematic and widespread. “A group of people has been targeting millions of voters across India, mostly from opposition-supporting communities, in election after election. We have clear evidence of this,” he said at a press conference.

Citing a specific instance, Gandhi alleged that 6,018 votes in Aland were nearly removed but the attempt was accidentally exposed when a booth-level officer discovered that her uncle’s name had been deleted. When she investigated, it turned out that her neighbor’s credentials had been misused to submit the deletion request, without the neighbor’s knowledge.

“The reality is that 6,018 applications were filed in the name of voters who never submitted them,” Gandhi said.

He also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of withholding crucial information from the Karnataka CID, which, he claimed, had written to the ECI 18 times over 18 months seeking data like OTP records and IP addresses linked to deletion requests. “The refusal to share this data is solid proof that Gyanesh Kumar is protecting those behind this operation,” Gandhi alleged.

Calling the issue an attack on India’s democracy and future, Gandhi held up a copy of the Constitution during his press briefing. “Every youngster must understand—this is about your jobs, your future, and your dreams. If they don’t share the data, they are siding with the killers of our democracy,” he said.

He also presented individuals whose phone numbers were allegedly misused for deletions, with the affected persons confirming they had no knowledge of the activity. Gandhi claimed similar patterns were being observed across constituencies, where voter IDs were deleted in some areas and added in others, often without the knowledge of the individuals concerned.

“Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must stop shielding those undermining Indian democracy. The ECI must release the data within a week. If they don’t, it will be clear that the Commission is complicit in this assault on the Constitution,” Gandhi said.