The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday dismissed allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding large-scale voter fraud, terming them “incorrect and baseless”. The poll body clarified that no voter’s name can be deleted online by any member of the public, as suggested by Gandhi.

ECI issues statement

In an official statement, the ECI said, “Allegations made by Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Rahul Gandhi. No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person.”

The Commission also rejected Gandhi’s accusations against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, calling them “baseless and incorrect”.

Rahul Gandhi’s allegations

Earlier in the day, Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, addressed a press conference at the Congress headquarters, Indira Bhawan. He alleged that a group of people was using software to impersonate real voters and delete their names from the rolls.

He further claimed to have “10 per cent proof” that CEC Gyanesh Kumar was “protecting vote chors (vote thieves).” Gandhi pointed to alleged deletions in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly constituency, where, he said, over 6,000 votes had been fraudulently targeted for removal.

“In Aland, Karnataka, 6,018 votes, somebody tried to delete these votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted in 2023 elections, but somebody got caught. It was caught, by most crimes, by a coincidence. What happened was that the Booth Level Officer noticed that her uncle’s vote had been deleted,” he said.

Poll body’s clarification on Aland case

Responding directly to the Aland example, the ECI said that in 2023, certain “unsuccessful attempts” were indeed made to delete electors’ names in the constituency. However, the Commission stated that it itself had ordered the filing of an FIR to investigate the matter.

“In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for deletion of electors in Aland Assembly Constituency and an FIR was filed by the authority of ECI itself,” the statement noted.

The poll panel also pointed out that Congress candidate B.R. Patil went on to win the 2023 Assembly election from Aland, while BJP’s Subadh Guttedar had won the same seat in 2018.

Broader political dispute

The Congress and other opposition parties have repeatedly accused the ECI of colluding with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to delete and add fraudulent votes in multiple constituencies across states. Gandhi has also alleged irregularities in Maharashtra and Karnataka’s Mahadevapura constituency, where he previously claimed that thousands of votes were manipulated during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Conclusion

With Gandhi promising to release more “proof” in the coming weeks and the ECI firmly rejecting the charges, the standoff between the Congress and the poll panel is set to intensify. The issue has become a major flashpoint in the larger debate on electoral integrity and transparency, just months before crucial state elections.