Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi Intensifies Campaign Against Alleged Vote Theft by Poll Panel
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has intensified his campaign against alleged vote theft by the Election Commission (EC), accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting the “destroyers of democracy.”
A month after the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha dropped what he termed an “atom bomb” of alleged vote fraud—presenting ‘proof’ of selective addition and deletion of voters in the Mahadevapura constituency in Karnataka during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections—he has now asserted that over 6,000 deletion applications in Karnataka’s Aland assembly constituency were filed by impersonators. These fraudulent applications were allegedly made using centralised software, targeting the Congress ahead of the 2018 assembly elections.
Though Rahul Gandhi has yet to unveil the promised “hydrogen bomb” of revelations, his campaign against the EC continues in full force. Claiming that Dalits, OBCs, minorities, and traditional Opposition voters were targeted, he said fake logins were created to request the deletion of voters from select booths in Aland and the addition of voters in Rajura, Maharashtra—both known Congress strongholds.
He also presented two voters who categorically denied making any such requests to delete voters but were identified as the objectors in the deletion applications.
The Election Commission, however, rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegations as completely baseless. The poll panel stated that it had itself initiated a probe into the alleged fraudulent voter deletions in Aland. Meanwhile, Rahul countered that the state CID, which had taken up the case, sent 18 applications to the EC seeking clarifications—with no response received.
The EC asserted that no voter can be removed from the rolls without following due process.
Poll Panel Reaction and Political Fallout
The poll panel’s reaction to the Congress leader’s charges has been described as knee-jerk. At a press conference held on August 17—timed to coincide with the INDIA bloc’s rally in Bihar against the Special Intensive Revision of rolls in the state—Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar issued a virtual ultimatum to Rahul Gandhi. He demanded that Rahul file an affidavit on the vote theft allegations within a week or apologize to the nation.
When grave allegations are made against the Election Commission, the democratic duty is to conduct thorough investigations and provide point-by-point rebuttals rather than resort to theatrics. Transparency must be the guiding principle for the poll body.
The BJP’s swift defence of the poll panel has also raised concerns about the health of democracy.
Concerns Over Election Commission’s Impartiality
There have been several instances over the past decade where the Election Commission’s impartiality has been questioned—especially regarding enforcement of the model code of conduct and actions against hate speech.
Rahul Gandhi is likely hoping that public opinion—the “people’s court”—will support his claims. Nevertheless, it is crucial that India’s electoral system, widely admired since the first general elections of 1951-52, remains resilient under scrutiny.
Only through transparency and accountability can the foundations of India’s democracy be safeguarded for the future.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/rahul-gandhi-alleges-vote-deletions-in-karnataka-accuses-cec-of-shielding-destroyers-of-democracy