Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale voter deletions from Congress strongholds during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi claimed that voter IDs were deleted through fake logins and phone numbers originating outside the state, and that the deletions were being executed not manually but via software in a “centralised operation.”

Citing the Aland constituency in Karnataka, Gandhi said 6,018 voter IDs were targeted for deletion. “This was exposed only by coincidence when a booth-level officer found her uncle’s name missing and questioned her neighbour whose credentials had been misused. Neither the voter nor the person whose details were used to delete the vote knew what had happened,” he alleged.

He claimed this incident was proof of a wider pattern across India where communities perceived to support the Opposition were systematically targeted. “We have 100 per cent proof of this. This is not about one election, this is about protecting the Constitution and democracy,” Gandhi said, holding up a copy of the Constitution during his remarks.

Gandhi further alleged that the Karnataka CID had written 18 times to the Election Commission over 18 months seeking crucial technical data such as IP addresses and OTP trails linked to these deletion attempts. “If this information is revealed, it will expose where the operation is being run from. By withholding this, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is protecting those destroying our democracy,” he charged.

Sources within the ECI, however, dismissed Gandhi’s accusations as “incorrect” and “baseless.” They clarified that voter deletions cannot be done online by the public and that due process, including notice to the voter, is mandatory. The ECI also noted that the FIR Gandhi cited was filed by the Commission itself after detecting unsuccessful deletion attempts in Aland.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale voter deletions from Congress strongholds during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference, Gandhi claimed that voter IDs were deleted through fake logins and phone numbers originating outside the state, and that the deletions were being executed not manually but via software in a “centralised operation.”

Citing the Aland constituency in Karnataka, Gandhi said 6,018 voter IDs were targeted for deletion. “This was exposed only by coincidence when a booth-level officer found her uncle’s name missing and questioned her neighbour whose credentials had been misused. Neither the voter nor the person whose details were used to delete the vote knew what had happened,” he alleged.

He claimed this incident was proof of a wider pattern across India where communities perceived to support the Opposition were systematically targeted. “We have 100 per cent proof of this. This is not about one election, this is about protecting the Constitution and democracy,” Gandhi said, holding up a copy of the Constitution during his remarks.

Gandhi further alleged that the Karnataka CID had written 18 times to the Election Commission over 18 months seeking crucial technical data such as IP addresses and OTP trails linked to these deletion attempts. “If this information is revealed, it will expose where the operation is being run from. By withholding this, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is protecting those destroying our democracy,” he charged.

Sources within the ECI, however, dismissed Gandhi’s accusations as “incorrect” and “baseless.” They clarified that voter deletions cannot be done online by the public and that due process, including notice to the voter, is mandatory. The ECI also noted that the FIR Gandhi cited was filed by the Commission itself after detecting unsuccessful deletion attempts in Aland.