The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka has dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter deletions, stating that all faulty applications were rejected and that an FIR in connection with the Aland case had already been registered in 2023. The clarification was issued on Thursday, citing official records and past actions taken by the Election Commission of India (ECI). According to a statement released by the office of the CEO Karnataka and reported by the official handle x/@ceo_karnataka, the allegations surrounding the Aland Case 2023 had already been addressed through due process.
6,018 deletion applications reviewed
The Election Registration Officer (ERO) for the 46-Aland Assembly constituency had received 6,018 Form 7 applications in December 2022. These were filed online through official apps such as NVSP, VHA and GARUDA. On verification, officials found that only 24 applications were genuine, while 5,994 were incorrect. The incorrect applications were rejected and no electors’ names were deleted on that basis. “Accordingly, 24 applications were accepted and 5,994 incorrect applications were rejected and not deleted,” the CEO said in the statement.
FIR registered in February 2023
Based on these findings, the ERO lodged FIR No. 26/2023 at Aland Police Station, Kalaburagi district, on February 21, 2023. The move was in line with the Election Commission’s directions to pursue legal action against suspicious bulk submissions. Later, on September 6, 2023, the CEO Karnataka handed over all available information to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi, for investigation. This included technical and personal details such as objector data, reference numbers, EPIC numbers, login credentials, mobile numbers, IP addresses and time-stamped submissions. Meetings were also held with police investigators and cyber security experts to review progress with the CEO’s office confirming that all possible assistance continues to be provided to the probe.
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Rahul Gandhi’s allegation
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha had on Thursday accused the Election Commission of allowing what he termed a “vote chori” (vote theft) operation, alleging mass deletions of voters’ names across India.
Citing the Aland case, Gandhi claimed 6,018 voters were targeted for deletion during the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections. He suggested that the deletions were concentrated in booths where the Congress party was gaining strength and alleged that the matter came to light “by coincidence”. He also referred to a woman named Godabai, claiming her identity had been misused to create fake logins in order to delete 12 voters from the rolls. He demanded answers from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, giving the poll body a one-week deadline. The Election Commission of India has already dismissed Gandhi’s claims.Â
