New Delhi:Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has once again levelled serious charges against the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging irregularities in voter deletions ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, specifically in the Aland constituency.

According to Gandhi, a “systematic and centralized attempt” was made to delete around 6,008 voters from the rolls, most of whom he claimed were OBCs, Dalits, minorities, and backward communities, generally considered Congress supporters. He further alleged that the exercise was carried out through fake online applications submitted using external phone numbers, with the Election Commission shielding those behind the operation.

However, the Election Commission swiftly refuted these claims, stating that Gandhi’s figures and conclusions were misleading and factually incorrect.

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

About 6,008 voters in Aland constituency were targeted for deletion before the 2023 polls.
Most of those affected, he claimed, belonged to disadvantaged communities aligned with the Congress.
Fake Form 7 applications were allegedly filed online with the help of a centralized software and outside phone numbers.
The ECI, he alleged, blocked police investigations by withholding key technical data such as IP addresses and phone details.

The Election Commission’s Response

The Election Commission gave a detailed explanation, countering Gandhi’s claims:
The actual number of deletion requests was 5,994, not 6,008.
Of these, 24 requests were genuine, submitted by voters who had shifted residence.
The remaining 5,994 requests were fraudulent but were identified and rejected by the ECI itself.
Importantly, not a single voter lost their voting rights due to the fake applications.
The Returning Officer of Aland, Mamta Devi, formally complained to Karnataka Police, leading to the filing of an FIR and a full-fledged investigation.

The ECI clarified that there is no centralized voter-deletion software. Deletions can only be processed through:

A physical Form 7 submission, or
The National Voters’ Service Portal (NVSP), which requires authentication.

Every deletion request undergoes a multi-layered verification process involving notices to voters and on-ground checks by Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
Data sharing with the police, the Commission said, followed legal protocols, with certain sensitive information (like OTP logs) withheld due to privacy laws.

Political Outcome

Despite Gandhi’s allegations, the Congress candidate B.R. Patil went on to win the Aland seat, defeating the sitting BJP MLA. The ECI emphasized that since no voter was actually disenfranchised, the final election result remained unaffected.

Rahul Gandhi’s latest charge of “voter theft” in Karnataka has drawn sharp scrutiny. While the Election Commission acknowledged an attempt to manipulate the rolls through fraudulent applications, it stressed that the system’s safeguards ensured no wrongful deletions occurred.

The episode underlines the importance of evidence-backed claims in political discourse, as repeated unverified allegations risk weakening credibility.