Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on vote theft baseless, incorrect: Election Commission

The Election Commission on Thursday denied allegations levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of mass deletion of voters from the party-ruled Karnataka during the 2023 assembly elections, terming them as “baseless” and “incorrect”.

Stepping up the offensive against the poll body, Gandhi earlier in the day alleged that mass deletion of voters was done from Congress strongholds in Karnataka during the 2023 election.

Related news: Rahul Gandhi accuses CEC of shielding ‘vote chors’ in ‘centralised deletion’ scam

These voter IDs, he alleged, were deleted using fake logins and phone numbers from outside the state. He alleged that the voter deletion was being executed not by individuals, but with the use of software and in a centralised manner.

In response, the EC said, “The allegations made by Rahul Gandhi against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar are baseless and incorrect.”

The EC said, “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.”

Sources in the EC said that in 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for deletion of electors in Karnataka’s Aland assembly constituency and an FIR was filed by the EC authority to investigate the matter.

At a press conference, the Congress MP alleged that in Aland, over 6,000 deletion applications were filed by impersonators.

He alleged that the deletion of voters was done in a centralised manner using software and targeting the Congress. He alleged that the CEC is “protecting” people who have “destroyed” Indian democracy.