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Rahul Gandhi, a Congress legislator and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, made grave accusations of voter list manipulation at a press conference on Thursday. This time, the Congress leader especially targeted Karnataka’s Aland assembly constituency.

Rahul’s most recent accusation

Gandhi said that through software-driven manipulation and impersonation, more than 6,000 names—6,018 to be exact—were almost completely removed from the electoral records in the 2023 Karnataka elections. He claimed that many of the people whose names were removed were unaware that fraudulent applications had been submitted using mobile numbers from outside of Karnataka. He claimed that booths where Congress was historically strong had been disproportionately targeted and characterized the deletion attempts as a “centralised operation” as opposed to individual mistakes.

Along with accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “vote chors” (vote thieves) and “those who have destroyed democracy,” the Congress leader claimed that the Karnataka CID had disregarded their demands for information, including IP addresses and OTP trails, for the past 18 months. Gandhi emphasized that his statements were based only on evidence, or at the very least, what he called “solid proof.” He also called on the Election Commission to make all pertinent data available within a week.

False and unfounded: ECI

Gandhi’s assertions were rebutted shortly after by the Election Commission of India (ECI), which described them as “incorrect and baseless.” In contrast to Gandhi’s assertions, the commission maintained that no member of the public could remove any vote or elector online. It further noted that, in accordance with the law, no name may be deleted without first providing the impacted party with a hearing.

The poll panel acknowledged that there had been “unsuccessful attempts” to remove voters from Aland in 2023, but added that these had been reported and that ECI authorities had even submitted a formal complaint to look into the matter. The committee also noted that Aland was won by Congress candidate BR Patil in 2023 and by BJP candidate Subhadh Guttedar in 2018, which they said cast doubt on the assertion that manipulation changed the results.

Rahul claims the poll body evaded him.

However, Rahul Gandhi did not find the ECI’s answer to be enough. He responded angrily to what he described as the poll body’s “unsigned, evasive notes” in his follow-up. Instead of using press releases or middlemen, he insisted that a constitutional authority such as the ECI answer in appropriate, signed responses. He reaffirmed his demand that the ECI release post-5 pm CCTV footage from polling stations, publish consolidated, machine-readable voter rolls for all recent elections (both state assembly and Lok Sabha), and share all digital and forensic data, including the IP addresses and OTP trails, that the Karnataka CID had been requesting.

Gandhi asserted that speaking the truth will preserve the ECI’s reputation more than evasion. He declared that these are essential to preserving democracy and the right to vote guaranteed by the constitution, not political theater.

formally provide proof: BJP

Quickly and critically, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted. Rahul Gandhi’s accusations were rejected by its leaders, who saw them as a result of their repeated election setbacks. Rahul’s news conference was referred to by BJP MP Anurag Thakur as a “phuljhari” (sparkler) instead of a “Hydrogen bomb,” implying that the accusations backfired on him. Gandhi was charged by Thakur of routinely bringing accusations without adhering to the proper procedures, particularly failing to provide legally required statements or affidavits when prompted. Amit Shah, the union home minister, went further, denouncing the claim as untrue and ridiculing the Congress leader’s “Save Intruders March” (also known as the “Ghuspaithiya Bachao Yatra”), suggesting the Congress was promoting a narrative that was more supportive of illegal or migrant entry than it was of governance.

Gandhi was also charged by BJP officials with compromising constitutional institutions. They maintained that the public’s confidence in electoral entities is harmed by attacks on the ECI that lack legally verifiable proof. They advised Gandhi to present his evidence formally rather than through media appearances if he had reliable proof.

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