Skip to main content

Allegations of Vote Chori raise demands for independent investigation

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, addressing the media on September 19, 2025, reiterated his allegation of large-scale “vote theft” in India. He criticized Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) was not fulfilling its constitutional duty. Gandhi cited instances from Karnataka and Maharashtra, claiming that voter names were deleted or added fraudulently.
According to Gandhi, in the Aland assembly constituency of Kalburgi district, around 6,000 names were allegedly removed from the voters’ list ahead of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. He said the deletions disproportionately affected Congress strongholds. Following complaints, the Election Commission reviewed the matter, restored several names, and an FIR was filed by the Electoral Registration Officer. The Karnataka CID later investigated the case, reporting that fake names had been used to file deletion requests. The CID sought technical details from the Election Commission, including IP addresses, OTP trails, and mobile numbers linked to the objections.
Gandhi alleged that similar practices had occurred in Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency, where over 6,800 names were added in what he described as a fraudulent manner. He claimed such incidents had also taken place in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. In a post on X, Gandhi said the alleged process of voter deletion was systematic and technology-driven.
This was Gandhi’s third press conference on the issue in two months. On August 7, 2025, he first alleged that a coordinated “vote theft” operation was underway, which he attributed to a wider network influencing elections nationwide. He described two primary methods of malpractice: the addition of fictitious names and the deletion of legitimate voters.
The Election Commission has rejected Gandhi’s allegations as “incorrect and baseless.” It stated that no individual can delete names online, as suggested, and emphasized its independent role in maintaining electoral rolls. The Commission asked Gandhi to submit an affidavit substantiating his claims or issue a public apology.
Gandhi, however, has maintained that the EC should cooperate with the Karnataka CID investigation and provide the requested data. He argued that transparency is necessary to ensure public confidence in the electoral process.
The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between the Opposition and the Election Commission regarding the integrity of electoral rolls. While Gandhi has called for an independent investigation, the EC has denied wrongdoing. The matter remains under scrutiny, with further developments likely depending on the Karnataka CID probe.
---
*Journalist based in Chennai

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Xi Jinping’s visit to USA: Recognition that China can't be contained?

By Vijay Prashad   President Xi Jinping’s forthcoming visit to the United States must be understood as more than an encounter between two heads of state, but it must be seen as an encounter between two possible futures. In one future, the United States imposes a spiral of confrontation against China. Trade disputes harden into economic warfare, then economic warfare intensifies into technological blockades, technological blockades produce military encirclement, and finally military encirclement creates incidents, and incidents the danger of becoming an unimaginable war.
Post a Comment
»

Swaminarayan, untouchability and the 'we are not Hindu' argument

By Rajiv Shah   Following my blog on why the Eiffel Tower authorities should take all the blame for giving in to the Swaminarayan sadhus ’ bizarre demand to “invisibilise” women, including its female staff, during their visit to the internationally renowned Paris tourist centre on September 5, an interesting comment by one of the top academics drew my attention to something I vaguely knew about one of India’s most powerful and richest religious sects.
Post a Comment
»

From margins to microphones: The rise of Dalit hip-hop in India

By Tersina Maria Toppo*  A protest does not always arrive as a slogan shouted from a street corner. Sometimes, it arrives on a beat. A microphone replaces the megaphone, a music video becomes a public square, and the smartphone becomes the space where a history once pushed to the margins is narrated, debated, and shared.
2 comments
»