NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations regarding the manipulation of voter rolls, asserting that “no deletion of votes can be done online by any member of the public.”
In a statement, the Election Commission emphasized that no name is removed from the electoral roll without issuing a notice to the individual concerned. It clarified that while voters can submit Form 7 online to request the deletion of their names from the roll, such deletions do not happen automatically upon submission. According to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, any deletion requires proper notice and an opportunity for the affected person to be heard.
The Election Commission reviewed applications in relation to the upcoming assembly election in Aland, Karnataka, where it processed a total of 6,018 applications for deletions submitted via Form 7. Of these, only 24 were deemed valid, while 5,994 were rejected as incorrect. The Commission noted that there were suspicions regarding the legitimacy of the numerous applications, leading to an inquiry and the filing of an FIR (No. 26/2023) by the Electoral Registration Officer on February 21, 2023.
This statement follows Gandhi’s renewed claims of “vote chori” (vote theft) during a recent press conference, where he criticized the Election Commission, describing it as an “election watchman” that “stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves.”
Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of facilitating the removal of Congress supporters from the voter rolls, alleging that a centralized software was used to impersonate voters and eliminate names, particularly targeting marginalized communities. He cited the case in Aland, where he claimed to possess “100% proof” of electoral manipulation.
During the press briefing, Gandhi detailed instances in Aland where individuals discovered that their votes had been deleted, stating, “In Aland, Karnataka, 6,018 votes, somebody tried to delete these votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted in the 2023 elections, but somebody got caught.” He elaborated on how an officer uncovered discrepancies when noticing that her relative’s vote had been deleted.
