Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is preparing to make another major announcement regarding his allegations of electoral malpractice. Over recent months, he has held multiple press conferences accusing the Election Commission and the ruling party of systematic fraud in elections across India. His claims have ranged from duplicate voter registrations and fake addresses to large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls, particularly targeting opposition-supporting communities. Gandhi has presented detailed data from constituencies in Karnataka and Maharashtra, alleging that votes were manipulated through software-driven operations. He has accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those responsible for undermining democracy. The Election Commission has rejected these allegations as baseless, stating that proper procedures are followed for any changes to voter lists. Gandhi has promised further revelations, claiming that insiders within the Commission are now sharing information with his party. The controversy has intensified political tensions ahead of upcoming elections.
Initial Claims of Vote Theft in Karnataka
On August 7, Gandhi accused the Election Commission and the ruling party of committing a massive fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Bangalore Central. He claimed 1,00,250 votes were stolen out of 6.5 lakh total votes through five methods: duplicate voters, fake or invalid addresses, bulk voters at single addresses, invalid photos, and misuse of Form 6 for first-time voters. His analysis identified 11,965 duplicate votes, 40,009 fake addresses, 10,452 bulk voters, 4,132 invalid photos, and 33,692 instances of Form 6 misuse. Gandhi displayed examples including a voter named Aditya Srivastava allegedly registered in multiple states, and a 70-year-old woman registered twice within two months and voting at different booths.
Allegations of Systematic Voter Deletion
On September 18, Gandhi escalated his accusations, focusing on large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls. He claimed that communities supporting the Opposition, including Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, and OBCs, were being systematically targeted. Using evidence from Karnataka's Aland constituency, he alleged someone attempted to delete 6,018 votes from Congress strongholds. He also cited Maharashtra's Rajura constituency where 6,850 fake additions were allegedly made using automated software. Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those destroying democracy and demanded the Commission release phone numbers, OTPs, and device logs within a week. The Election Commission dismissed these allegations as incorrect and baseless, clarifying that proper procedures prevent unauthorized deletions.
Source: Link