‘Wake up, delete votes, sleep’: Rahul Gandhi’s scathing attack on ECI over alleged vote theft

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday intensified his criticism of the Election Commission of India, accusing it of shielding “vote thieves” and protecting those who “destroyed democracy.” In a social media post, Gandhi alleged that vote deletion occurs swiftly, with someone waking up at 4 AM, deleting two voters in 36 seconds, and then going back to sleep.

He also taunted the ECI, saying it “stayed awake, watched the theft, and protected the thieves.”

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Gandhi’s claims centered around alleged irregularities in voter deletion processes, particularly in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly constituency. He presented a case study where 6,018 applications were filed to delete votes, supposedly using automated software. The Congress leader emphasised that these deletions targeted voters in Congress strongholds.

Gandhi had also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy.”

The Election Commission has strongly rejected Gandhi’s allegations, terming them “incorrect and baseless.” The ECI clarified that votes cannot be deleted online without due process, and any deletion requires an opportunity for the affected individual to be heard. Attempts to delete voters in the Aland Assembly Constituency in 2023 were unsuccessful, and an FIR was filed by the ECI itself to investigate the matter.

The ECI also asked Rahul Gandhi to provide evidence to support his claims within a week.