Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has intensified his campaign against alleged vote theft by the Election Commission (EC), accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting the “destroyers of democracy.”
A month after dropping the so-called “atom bomb” of alleged vote fraud—presenting what he claimed was proof of selective addition and deletion of voters in the Mahadevapura constituency in Karnataka during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections—Rahul Gandhi has now alleged that over 6,000 deletion applications in Karnataka’s Aland assembly constituency were filed by impersonators using centralized software. According to him, these fraudulent deletions targeted the Congress ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.
Although Rahul has yet to reveal the promised “hydrogen bomb,” his campaign against the EC continues to gather momentum. He claimed that Dalits, OBCs, minorities, and those traditionally voting for the Opposition were singled out. Fake logins were reportedly created to request deletion of voters from select booths in Aland and the addition of voters in Rajura, Maharashtra—both Congress strongholds.
To support his allegations, Rahul Gandhi presented two voters who categorically denied making any deletion requests but were nonetheless identified as objectors.
The Election Commission, however, rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as completely baseless. The poll panel stated that it had itself initiated a probe into the alleged fraudulent voter deletions in Aland. Moreover, the EC asserted that no voter could be removed from the rolls without due process.
Rahul Gandhi countered this by revealing that the state CID, which had taken up the case, sent 18 applications to the EC seeking clarifications—with no response received so far.
The EC’s reaction to the charges has been considered knee-jerk. During a press conference held on August 17, coinciding with the INDIA bloc’s rally in Bihar against the Special Intensive Revision of Rolls, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar issued an ultimatum to Rahul Gandhi. He demanded that Rahul file an affidavit on the issue within a week or apologize to the nation.
When serious allegations are made against the Election Commission, it is the body’s duty to investigate the charges thoroughly and provide a detailed, point-by-point rebuttal—not resort to theatrics. Transparency must remain the cornerstone of the poll body’s functioning.
Adding to concerns, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swiftly came to the defense of the Election Commission, a move some see as unsettling for democratic norms. Over the past decade, there have been multiple instances where the EC’s impartiality has been questioned, particularly concerning the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct and action against hate speech during elections.
Rahul Gandhi is likely hoping that public opinion—the “people’s court”—will support his claims. However, it is crucial for independent India’s electoral system, admired worldwide since the first elections in 1951-52, to withstand rigorous scrutiny and maintain its integrity.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/rahul-gandhi-alleges-vote-deletions-in-karnataka-accuses-cec-of-shielding-destroyers-of-democracy