NEW DELHI, Sept 19: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday strongly refuted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s fresh allegations that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted in Karnataka’s Aland constituency. The poll body asserted that no wrongful deletions had taken place and dismissed the claims as “baseless.”
Rahul Gandhi, while reiterating his charge of “vote chori” (vote theft), had taken a swipe at the Commission, accusing it of behaving like a “watchman of elections” who “remained awake, saw the theft, and chose to protect the thieves.” The ECI, in response, issued a detailed statement defending its actions and clarifying the process of deletion applications.
According to the Commission, any voter can file Form 7 online to request deletion of a name from the electoral roll, but the mere submission of such a form does not automatically lead to deletion. “Each application undergoes verification, and only genuine cases are approved,” the Commission said.
In the case of Aland, a total of 6,018 Form 7 applications for deletion were filed online. After scrutiny, only 24 were found genuine while 5,994 were determined to be incorrect. “Accordingly, only 24 entries were deleted and the remaining applications were rejected,” the ECI clarified.
The unusually high number of questionable applications prompted authorities to probe deeper. The Electoral Registration Officer of Aland initiated an inquiry and subsequently lodged an FIR. Following this, as per the instructions of the Commission, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka handed over all relevant details to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district, on September 6, 2023.
The data shared with police included exhaustive details such as form reference numbers, names of objectors, EPIC numbers, mobile numbers used for login and processing, the software application medium, IP addresses, applicant locations, submission dates and times, and user creation dates. The CEO has continued to provide assistance to investigators, supplying any additional documents or technical inputs as required.
The Commission underlined that its responsibility does not end with rejecting incorrect applications but also extends to ensuring accountability in cases of suspected misuse of the process. “The inquiry is ongoing, and the police have been given all necessary cooperation,” it noted.
Putting the controversy in electoral perspective, the ECI reminded that the Aland Assembly constituency was won by BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar in 2018, while in the 2023 elections the seat was secured by Congress candidate BR Patil.