Amid Rahul Gandhi 'Vote Chori Row', NDTV Accesses '18 Letters In 18 Months' To Poll Body
Rahul Gandhi - in his fiercest takedown of the Election Commission yet, in which he accused the poll body of the mass deletion of voters before the 2023 Karnataka election - said the EC had been sent 18 letters asking for information.
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New Delhi:
On Thursday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi leveled serious accusations against the Election Commission, claiming it orchestrated systematic voter deletions prior to the 2023 Karnataka election. During a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation to media in Delhi, Gandhi revealed that Karnataka's Criminal Investigation Department had sent 18 letters over 18 months to the EC requesting crucial information about these alleged deletions.
The Election Commission swiftly rejected these allegations as "incorrect" and "baseless." In its statement on X, the EC clarified: "No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public... no deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person."
Regarding specific allegations about 6,018 names reportedly deleted from the Aland constituency voter list, the EC provided a detailed response: "In 2023, certain unsuccessful attempts were made for the deletion of electors in Aland Constituency, and an FIR was filed by the ECI itself to investigate the matter." The Commission also highlighted that Congress won the Aland seat in the 2023 election.
❌Allegations made by Shri Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless.#ECIFactCheck✅Read in detail in the image attached 👇 https://t.co/mhuUtciMTF pic.twitter.com/n30Jn6AeCr
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) September 18, 2025
Earlier, Gandhi stated that the CID had requested specific information in its letters, including destination IP addresses of devices used for voter deletion form submissions and OTP verification trails.
NDTV has obtained copies of several of these communications, including a February 1 letter from the CID's Cyber Crime division to Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer. This letter requested IP logs of devices allegedly used for voter deletion forms, along with timestamps of all deletion requests.
The February 1 letter made five specific requests, including whether OTPs or multi-factor authentication were utilized for login and application submissions via the voter services mobile app.
NDTV also acquired a February 4 letter from Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer to the Election Commission headquarters in Delhi, acknowledging that the CID had requested "certain information related to a case... related to submission of online applications for deletion of names..."
The CID sent additional communications to the state Chief Electoral Officer on February 14 and February 25.
The most recent letter accessed by NDTV was dated March 14.
All correspondence referenced the alleged mass voter deletions in Aland constituency.
Earlier today, Gandhi presented his case to reporters with detailed PowerPoint slides, alleging voter IDs were systematically removed in Karnataka (as well as in Haryana and other states) using fraudulent logins and phone numbers.
He claimed this was executed systematically through centralized software, targeting voters from marginalized communities and religious minorities who traditionally support Congress or allied opposition parties.
The Congress leader demanded the EC provide the Karnataka CID with digital data to trace these deletions, including IP logs that would enable investigators to identify devices used for fraudulent requests and determine when and where such requests originated.
"Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar needs to stop protecting the people who are destroying Indian democracy," Gandhi alleged. "EC has to release this data within a week. Otherwise, we will know for sure that Gyanesh Kumar is protecting people who are destroying and attacking the Constitution," he concluded.