EC Rebuts Rahul Gandhi's Claims, Says Aland Application Details Shared With Karnataka Police In 2023

2025-09-19 03:19:15

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has again rejected the allegations of vote deletion by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying there was no wrongful deletion of electors. Rahul Gandhi had earlier alleged that that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted in a Karnataka constituency.

Reiterating his“vote chori” allegations, Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the Election Commission, calling it an“election watchman” who“stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves”.

The Election Commission clarified that while voters can submit Form 7 online to request deletion of an entry from a constituency, the entry is not removed automatically upon submission. It said in the case of Aland in Karnataka, 6,018 applications in Form 7 for deletion were submitted online.

The EC said on verification, 5,994 were found to be incorrect, while only 24 applications were found to be genuine. Also Read | Voter Deletion Row: All you need to know about 2023 fiasco as EC confirms 'unsuccessful' attempts in Aland

Suspecting the genuineness of such a large number of applications for deletion, an inquiry was conducted and subsequently an FIR was registered by Electoral Registration Officer, Aland.

The Karnataka CEO then handed over all information to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district, on September 6, 2023 for completing the investigation. Also Read | What is the process of voter deletion in India? Can software really delete votes, as Rahul Gandhi alleges? Explained

The shared information included objector details such as Form Reference Number, name of the objector, EPIC number, mobile number used for login, mobile number provided for processing, software application medium, IP address, applicant place, form submission date and time, and user creation date.

The CEO Karnataka has been providing continuous assistance, including any further information and documents, to the investigating agency.

"As per records, Aland assembly constituency was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and BR Patil (INC) in 2023," it noted.

(With agency inputs)

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