Mounting fresh allegations against the Election Commission of India, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that centralised softwares were used for targeted deletion of voters in two assemblies – Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra. 

The Congress leader alleged that over 6,000 voters were deleted from 10 booths in Alanda, of which eight were strongholds of Congress. To back his claims, Gandhi cited the example of a 65-year-old voter Suryakant, on whose behalf 12 applications – under form 7 – to delete voters were submitted five months before the 2023 Karnataka polls in Aland.

The Congress MP invited Suryakant, as well as Babita Chaudhari, one of the voters who was struck off the rolls after an application in the name of the former. But Suryakant denied submitting any such application. “In my name, an application to delete 12 voters was filed. I did not know it.” Chaudhari said she did not know that her name was struck off the rolls. 

Gandhi further alleged that the mobile numbers cited in these applications were from 12 neighbouring states. “This was not done at a worker level, this was done at a call centre level,” he claimed, adding that a similar model was used to add fake voters in Rajura assembly in Maharashtra. 

“In election after election, a group of people has been systematically targeting millions of voters for deletion across India, different communities, mainly communities that are voting for the Opposition. We have found 100 per cent proof of this. I love my country, I love the Constitution, I love the democratic process and I am protecting that process. I am not going to say anything here that is not going to be based on 100 per cent proof that you can determine. The judgment is yours,” he said.

Within 45 minutes of the press conference, the Election Commission replied that the allegations were “incorrect and baseless”. 

The commission explained that no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as “misconceived” by Gandhi. It further said that in 2023 certain unsuccessful attempts were made for deletion of electors in Aland assembly constituency and an FIR was filed by poll authorities to investigate the matter. The constituency was won by BJP in 2018 and Congress in 2023, it said. 

While it is true that no deletion can be done online by any member of the public, the 2023 Manual on Electoral Rolls state that anyone can submit online forms to propose deletions or inclusions. In fact through online tutorials, the ECI itself urges people to fill form 7 for dead people so that their votes cannot be misused. 

The Congress leader said the Karnataka CID had written 18 letters to the EC asking details about a case in which someone tried to delete over 6,000 voters in Aland through online forms.

The Hindu had earlier reported that in February 2023, Congress candidate B R Patil had lodged a complaint with the EC claiming that several applications to delete voters were being filed in his constituency without the knowledge of the voters. The case had come to light when a booth level officer had received a form to delete her brother’s vote. The application was made in the name of another voter of the same village, who was allegedly not aware of it. 

Later, Mamta Devi, Returning Officer in Aland, in her complaint to the Aland police told that out of 6,018 such applications filed, only 24 were genuine.

The case was later transferred to the Karnataka CID. But, according to The Hindu, after two-and-a-half years, the probe was stalled because the commission could not provide the CID details of the devices through which these applications were received – the destination IPS and ports. According to the report, CID wrote seven letters to the CEO from January to April 2025 to repeatedly seek these details.

Slamming the ECI for not cooperating with the CID, Gandhi requested the poll panel to reply within one week. He also hinted at another press conference on the issue. The Congress will soon release a “hydrogen bomb”, he said. 

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