Guwahati: The Election Commission of India (EC) on Thursday dismissed as “incorrect and baseless” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was protecting those involved in voter deletion scams.
In a strongly worded statement, the EC said: “Allegations made by Shri Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Shri Rahul Gandhi.”
The poll body further clarified that no voter can be removed from the rolls without due process, stating that every deletion requires giving the affected person an opportunity to be heard.
Responding to Gandhi’s reference to Karnataka’s Aland constituency, the Commission acknowledged that attempts were made in 2023 to fraudulently delete voters, but stressed that these efforts were unsuccessful. An FIR was filed by the EC itself to ensure a proper investigation. It also pointed out that election results in Aland reflected fair outcomes, with the BJP winning in 2018 and the Congress in 2023.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of shielding “vote chors” and those who had “destroyed Indian democracy.” He alleged that systematic voter deletions were being carried out nationwide using automated software, citing examples from Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra.
Gandhi further claimed that Karnataka CID had written 18 times to the Election Commission over the past 18 months, seeking technical details about voter deletions, but the EC had not provided the information.
“EC knows who is doing this. They are defending the murderers of democracy,” Gandhi charged, while reiterating his promise to soon release what he described as a “hydrogen bomb” of evidence on “vote chori.”