NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar of attempting to cover up a “centralised crime” of mass voter deletions, calling it a move aimed at “vote theft.”
At a press conference, Gandhi cited an ongoing probe by the Karnataka CID, saying an FIR had already been registered in the matter. He claimed the agency had sought crucial technical details — including IP addresses, device ports and OTP trails — from the Election Commission 18 times over the last 18 months, but no information was provided.
“Why are they not giving this information? Because it will take you directly to the place from where the action is being carried out,” Gandhi said. He alleged that the deletions were a “systematic targeting” of Dalits, Adivasis, minorities and OBCs, accusing “someone” of hijacking the process to erase opposition votes across states.
Referring to the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections in Aland, Gandhi claimed that 6,018 applications for voter deletions had been filed through duplicate and automated systems.
He said the matter came to light when a booth-level officer noticed that his uncle’s name was missing from the voter list. On inquiry, a neighbour listed as an applicant reportedly confirmed he had never requested the deletion.
“Neither the accused nor the voter whose name was deleted had any knowledge. Some other force had hijacked the entire process,” Gandhi alleged.
