Election Commission Rejects Rahul Gandhi’s Claims Against CEC, Denies Voter Deletion Allegations
Election Commission says no voter can be deleted online; terms Gandhi’s accusations “incorrect and misconceived.”
New Delhi, Sept 18: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday dismissed allegations made by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi that Congress voters’ names were being systematically deleted from electoral rolls. The poll body termed his claims “incorrect and baseless,” while also rejecting his accusations against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
In a strongly worded statement, the ECI clarified that no voter’s name can be deleted online by any member of the public, as alleged. “No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person,” the Commission said.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi had claimed at a press conference that he possessed “100 per cent proof” of CEC Gyanesh Kumar “protecting vote chors (vote thieves).” He alleged that software-driven impersonation was being used to delete genuine voters’ names from the rolls.
Responding to this, the ECI said that in 2023, “unsuccessful attempts” were indeed made to delete certain votes in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly Constituency, but it was the Commission itself that ordered an FIR and initiated an investigation.
The poll panel further pointed out that despite these attempts, Congress candidate B R Patil won the Aland seat in the 2023 Assembly polls, while the BJP had won there in 2018.
Gandhi had alleged that more than 6,000 voters’ names were targeted for deletion in Aland and claimed similar fraud took place in Maharashtra’s Rajura and Karnataka’s Mahadevapura seats. However, the Commission stressed that allegations of mass deletions or collusion were unfounded.
Opposition parties have frequently accused the Election Commission of bias, but Thursday’s statement underlined the ECI’s stand that all deletions and additions undergo strict verification.
