The Election Commission (EC) has strongly denied allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who accused the poll body of shielding those behind systematic voter deletions across the country.

Responding to Gandhi’s claims, the EC issued a firm statement calling the accusations "incorrect and baseless." It clarified that no member of the public can delete votes online, contrary to what Gandhi had suggested. “No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Shri Rahul Gandhi,” the Commission said.

The EC also emphasized that voter deletions cannot take place without following due legal process. “No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person,” the statement read.

Addressing the specific issue raised by Gandhi about alleged irregularities in Karnataka’s Aland constituency, the Commission admitted that there were attempts in 2023 to fraudulently remove voters. However, it stressed that those efforts were unsuccessful, and the EC itself had filed an FIR to ensure a proper investigation.

To further underline the credibility of the election process, the EC pointed out that electoral outcomes in Aland were fair, with BJP’s Subhash Guttedar winning in 2018 and Congress’ BR Patil securing victory in 2023.

Gandhi’s Allegations

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of protecting "vote chors" (vote thieves) and allowing the “murder of democracy.” Gandhi claimed that voter deletions were being carried out using automated software and cited examples from both Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra.

He also alleged that Karnataka’s CID had written to the EC 18 times over the past 18 months requesting technical information related to voter roll changes, but the Commission had failed to respond.

“The EC knows who is doing this. They are defending the murderers of democracy,” Gandhi charged. He also said that the Opposition would soon present what he described as a “hydrogen bomb” of evidence exposing large-scale voter manipulation.