‘Baseless and incorrect’: ECI rejects Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of voter deletions

New Delhi — The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday dismissed allegations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding large-scale voter deletions in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly constituency, calling them “baseless and incorrect.”

The poll body also questioned Gandhi’s and the Congress party’s understanding of the electoral process, stressing that claims of voter deletions through any “online tool” were based on misconceptions.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi had alleged at a press conference that thousands of votes — particularly from Congress strongholds — were being systematically deleted using fake logins and phone numbers from outside the state. He specifically claimed that 6,018 names had been removed in Aland.

Responding swiftly, the ECI clarified that voter deletions cannot be carried out by the public or through online systems. “No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person,” the commission said.

The ECI further noted that in 2023 there were some unsuccessful attempts to delete electors in Aland, but an FIR was filed by the commission itself to investigate the matter.

Interestingly, the Aland constituency, which Gandhi described as a Congress stronghold, was won by BJP’s Subhadh Guttedar in 2018 and by Congress’ B.R. Patil in 2023.

Gandhi’s renewed allegations are expected to spark heated political debate. While the ECI is set to formally dismiss the claims, the BJP is likely to portray them as yet another Congress attempt to “distort” the electoral narrative ahead of the Bihar elections.

Last month, Gandhi had also alleged that one lakh votes were fraudulently added in Karnataka’s Mahadevpura constituency.

With inputs from IANS