EC dismisses Rahul Gandhi's allegations against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, calls it 'incorrect and baseless'

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday dismissed the vote theft allegations made by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, calling it 'incorrect and baseless'. The poll body also emphasised that "no vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Rahul Gandhi."

The poll body's response came soon after Rahul Gandhi made several allegations against the Election Commission during his press conference today.

Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless: EC

Responding to the Congress leader, the poll body said, "Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi. No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person."

However, the poll body acknowledged that certain unsuccessful attempts were made to delete electors in Karnataka's Aland Assembly Constituency in 2023, and an FIR was filed by the ECI itself to investigate the matter.

"In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for the deletion of electors in the Aland Assembly Constituency, and an FIR was filed by the authority of ECI itself to investigate the matter. As per records, Aland Assembly Constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and BR Patil (INC) in 2023," it added.

Rahul Gandhi accuses CEC of shielding 'vote chori'

Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on CEC Gyanesh Kumar, alleging he is "protecting people who are destroying Indian democracy." Gandhi claimed that a "systematic conspiracy" is underway to delete votes belonging largely to communities supporting the Opposition, including Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, and minorities.

He alleged that in Karnataka’s Aland constituency, nearly 6,018 votes were fraudulently deleted using impersonation and software-based manipulation. Gandhi stated, “In election after election, voters for the Opposition are being selectively targeted for deletions. We now have 100 per cent proof of this.”

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The Congress leader accused the Election Commission of deliberately stonewalling investigations. He said Karnataka CID had written 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission seeking basic details such as IP addresses, device ports, and OTP trails used to file deletion forms. “The Commission has not shared this information because it will reveal where the operation is being carried out,” he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi explained how deletions were allegedly carried out. According to him, software was used to impersonate voters and file deletion applications, with mobile numbers from outside Karnataka linked to the process. He said an automated program picked up the first name in the booth list for fraudulent deletions.