New Delhi [India], September 18 (ANI): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday called on Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to “stop giving excuses” and release evidence to the Karnataka CID regarding alleged vote deletion in the Aland constituency. The demand came after the Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed his fresh allegations of electoral fraud.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that an FIR was filed after the party’s candidate exposed the fraud, but the CID investigation has been stalled due to inaction from the CEC. “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,” he wrote.
Gandhi claimed that the attempted deletion of 6,018 votes could have affected election outcomes. He also alleged that crucial data, including destination IPs, device ports, and OTP trails, were being withheld. “If this vote theft had not been caught, our candidate could have lost the election. CEC Gyanesh Kumar – stop giving excuses. Release the evidence to the Karnataka CID. NOW,” he asserted.
Earlier, at a press conference, Rahul Gandhi claimed that someone attempted to delete more than 6,000 voters’ names in Aland during the 2023 elections. He accused a group of impersonating voters and manipulating the voter list through centralised software. Gandhi added that insiders from the Election Commission are now providing information to expose the alleged fraud.
Responding to the allegations, the ECI called them “baseless and incorrect,” stating that no voter deletions can be done online by any member of the public and that all affected individuals are given due opportunity to be heard. The commission noted that in 2023, certain “unsuccessful attempts” to delete electors in Aland were reported, and an FIR was filed under the authority of the ECI.
The 2023 Aland Assembly elections saw Congress leader BR Patil emerge victorious, while BJP’s Subadh Guttedar had won the seat in 2018. (ANI)
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