New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday firmly rejected allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over alleged voter fraud, calling them “incorrect and baseless.”
In an official statement, the poll body clarified that no member of the public can delete a voter’s name online. “No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Rahul Gandhi. No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person,” the ECI said.
The Commission also dismissed Gandhi’s accusation that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was “protecting vote chors (vote thieves),” describing the charge as unfounded.
Earlier this week, Gandhi had claimed during a press conference that he had “10 percent proof” of systematic voter manipulation through software impersonation and fraudulent deletions, particularly citing the Aland Assembly constituency in Karnataka where he alleged over 6,000 votes were targeted.
Responding to this, the ECI acknowledged that “unsuccessful attempts” were indeed made in 2023 to delete voters in Aland but stressed that the matter was detected and an FIR was filed by the Commission itself to investigate. The poll body further pointed out that Congress leader B.R. Patil won the Aland seat in the 2023 elections, while the BJP had secured it in 2018.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have repeatedly accused the ECI of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to manipulate voter rolls. Gandhi has alleged similar irregularities in Karnataka’s Mahadevpura constituency and during the Maharashtra Assembly elections.
The ECI reiterated its commitment to safeguarding electoral integrity and dismissed the suggestion that its top officials were complicit in voter fraud.
