Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, alleging a cover-up in the alleged voter deletion case in Karnataka’s Aland constituency.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Rahul Gandhi accused the CEC of blocking a CID probe into the case, claiming:
“After our Aland candidate exposed the fraud, the local EC official filed an FIR, but the CID investigation has been BLOCKED by CEC.
The Karnataka CID has written 18 letters in 18 months requesting all incriminating evidence — BLOCKED by CEC.
The Karnataka EC has sent multiple requests to ECI to comply with the investigation — BLOCKED by CEC.”
He further alleged that if the “vote theft” had not been detected, 6,018 votes could have been deleted, potentially causing their candidate to lose the election.
“Details of destination IP, device ports, and OTP trails have been withheld — BLOCKED by CEC.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar — stop giving excuses. Release the evidence to the Karnataka CID. NOW,” Gandhi added.
Election Commission’s Rebuttal
The Election Commission of India (ECI) swiftly responded with a post tagged #ECIFactCheck, dismissing Gandhi’s allegations as “incorrect and baseless.”
The ECI clarified that:
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No vote deletion can be done online by any member of the public.
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In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made to delete electors’ names in Aland constituency.
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An FIR was filed by ECI authorities themselves to investigate the matter.
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Congress candidate B.R. Patil won the Aland seat in 2023, defeating BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar.
Karnataka CEO’s Statement
Later in the day, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) issued a note confirming that:
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All available information regarding the 6,018 alleged voter deletions had already been shared with the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi, on September 6, 2023.
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The FIR in the case was lodged by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) under ECI authority.
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The CEO’s office has been providing all assistance, documents, and data requested by the investigating agency.
