Rahul alleged opposition voters, especially Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, minorities, were targeted using centralized deletion software.
New Delhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of shielding “vote thieves” and enabling large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, the Leader of the Opposition claimed to have “black and white proof” of systematic vote deletion in Karnataka’s Aland constituency and similar irregularities in other states.
Gandhi alleged that 6,018 votes in Aland, a Congress stronghold, were fraudulently deleted through automated applications filed in the names of unsuspecting voters. He cited a case where a booth-level officer discovered her uncle’s name removed without her or the alleged applicant’s knowledge, which he claimed exposed “a centralised software-driven operation.”
The Congress leader further claimed that the deletions targeted opposition voters, particularly Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, and minorities. He said mobile numbers from outside Karnataka were used to file deletion requests, pointing to “a sophisticated centralised system” at work.
Expanding his charge, Gandhi said irregularities had also been detected in Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. In Rajura, Maharashtra, for instance, he alleged that 6,815 voters were added in a similar manner.
Taking direct aim at the poll body, Gandhi accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of withholding critical data despite repeated requests from Karnataka CID. “Eighteen letters in eighteen months have gone unanswered,” he said, demanding the release of IP addresses, device logs, and OTP trails within a week.
“The Chief Election Commissioner is protecting those destroying Indian democracy,” Gandhi declared.
