– Abdul Bari Masoud
At back-to-back press conferences in the capital, two opposition parties accused the poll panel of shielding “vote chors” (vote thieves) who, they claimed, deleted or added thousands of names in key constituencies through a centralised software system. Both demanded that ECI release technical evidence such as IP addresses and OTP trails allegedly linked to suspicious deletions. However, as usual ECI dismissed the allegation as “baseless and incorrect”.
On September 18, the normally staid corridors of All India Congress Committee headquarters crackled with unusual energy. Reporters crowded around as Rahul Gandhi strode to the podium, clutching a thin file of papers and a handful of printouts. He promised to expose “a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of Indian democracy.”
What followed set off a political tempest: Gandhi accused ECI of protecting “vote thieves” working with BJP to tamper with electoral rolls. A day later, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) amplified the charge, saying its own supporters’ names had been wiped out during the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls. Together, their allegations painted a disturbing picture of the country’s electoral infrastructure – one in which software, fake applications, and bureaucratic stonewalling were allegedly used to tilt the playing field.
A File from Kalaburagi
This time the focal point of Gandhi’s presentation was Kalaburagi in north Karnataka. In its Aland Assembly constituency, he claimed, 6,018 voters were quietly removed from the rolls ahead of the 2023 state election.
“These deletions weren’t random,” Gandhi declared, waving a spreadsheet. “They disproportionately targeted Dalits, Adivasis, OBCs and minorities – precisely the people who vote against BJP.”
According to Gandhi, the operation relied on a computer programme that mined booth-level rolls, picked a legitimate name and used it to submit online deletion requests. Crucially, the mobile numbers linked to these requests were registered outside Karnataka.
“Karnataka CID wrote 18 letters over 18 months, asking EC for IP addresses, OTP records, device IDs,” Gandhi said. “The Chief Election Commissioner never shared a single detail. Instead, he protected those murdering democracy.”
Stories Behind the Numbers
To illustrate how the deletions worked, Gandhi introduced three voters from Aland.
Godabai, a soft-spoken 63-year-old farm worker, was stunned to learn she had supposedly requested 12 deletions.
Suryakant, present at the press conference, was shown as having removed 12 names in just 14 minutes.
Nagraj, Gandhi claimed, was linked to two deletions filed 36 seconds apart at 4:07 a.m. – a time when he was fast asleep.
“These people didn’t even own smartphones capable of filling online forms,” Gandhi said. “Their identities were stolen.”
The Congress leader warned that similar tactics had surfaced in Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency, where 6,850 votes were allegedly added fraudulently. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, he suggested, might be next.
AAP’s Familiar Echo
If Gandhi’s revelations were explosive, they also sounded familiar to AAP leaders. Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj held a separate briefing, brandishing copies of letters written months earlier by then Chief Minister Atishi and party convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Those letters, sent to EC between December 2024 and January 2025, warned of over 6,100 deletion requests in Kejriwal’s own New Delhi constituency. “Despite specific evidence, the Commission did nothing,” Bharadwaj alleged. “It neither ordered an inquiry nor filed FIRs.”
AAP’s data suggested that ordinary citizens – college students, homemakers, small traders – were falsely shown as requesting dozens of deletions. “This is a criminal offence,” Bharadwaj said. “Yet EC closed the file and now trolls Opposition leaders on social media.”
He named two successive Chief Election Commissioners, Rajiv Kumar and Gyanesh Kumar, accusing them of suppressing evidence. The party, he added, would soon upload its documentation on social media “so that every citizen can see how their vote was targeted.”
ECI’s Stubborn Attitude
The Election Commission rarely answers such questions as it thinks of not accountable to the public. It responded through X. “No deletion of any voter can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Shri Rahul Gandhi,” it said, stressing that an FIR had already been filed in 2023 to probe “unsuccessful attempts” at unauthorised deletions in Aland.
A senior EC official, speaking off the record, described the Opposition’s charges as “political theatre.” He said the poll panel had “mechanisms to ensure transparency” and was cooperating with state investigators.
Yet critics note that the Commission’s reply skirted key demands: the release of IP addresses, OTP trails, and details of who processed suspicious applications.
BJP Pushes Back
Predictably, the BJP dismissed the uproar as sour grapes. Former Union minister Anurag Thakur called Gandhi’s remarks “an attack on the credibility of Indian democracy.”
In Maharashtra, party spokesperson Keshav Upadhye dubbed Gandhi the “badshah of vote theft,” pointing to past roll irregularities under Congress governments. Ramdas Athawale, a Union minister from the Republican Party of India (A), said missing names in voter lists had “always occurred,” urging the Opposition not to malign constitutional institutions.
From the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), Sunil Tatkare described the allegations as “childish,” while leaders in the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance accused Congress of trying to pre-emptively question upcoming by-poll outcomes.
Support – and Stakes – for the Opposition
If BJP allies rallied behind EC, the Opposition saw an opening. Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena backed Gandhi, terming the allegations “serious.”
Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal demanded Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis step down over the Rajura episode. “Rahul Gandhi has exposed how democracy is being sabotaged,” Sapkal said. “The government has no moral right to continue.”
For AAP, which has often clashed with EC over campaign violations, the controversy dovetails with its narrative that institutions have been captured by the ruling party. “This is about the right to vote,” Bharadwaj insisted. “If you lose that, you lose the republic.”
Beyond One Scandal: A Larger Pattern?
For years, BJP has been accused of manipulating electoral outcomes through a variety of tactics – ranging from the alleged rigging of EVMs to the more insidious practice of voter suppression. The most shocking aspect of these allegations is the claim that the party has used its influence over state machinery to orchestrate these vote thefts. The ruling BJP is accused of manipulating the political and administrative apparatus to ensure favourable outcomes.
One of the most notable instances of this alleged manipulation was during the 2014 and 2019 general elections. Both these elections saw significant controversy over the functioning of EVMs. Allegations surfaced from Opposition parties that EVMs were being tampered with, either through physical manipulation or software glitches. These allegations were so widespread that in 2019, an Opposition-led protest against EVM tampering was organised in Parliament.
In addition to concerns about EVM manipulation, there have also been widespread allegations of voter suppression tactics aimed at disenfranchising large segments of the population. One of the most insidious tools in this effort has been the misuse of technology – particularly, the Aadhaar card and voter ID system. Reports have surfaced about individuals receiving voter IDs in constituencies far from their homes or about people being inexplicably removed from voter rolls. Bihar’s controversial “Special Intensive Revision” of electoral rolls is a glaring example; as many as 65 lakhs voters’ names were deleted during the exercise.
For analysts, the affair taps into a deeper unease about India’s electoral architecture. Over the past decade, the Commission has faced criticism over delays in releasing turnout data, uneven enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, and its reluctance to act against powerful incumbents.
“The EC used to be a fiercely independent referee,” says Prof. Nirmala Menon, a political scientist at JNU. “Its reputation has taken hits, especially after 2019, when several commissioners publicly dissented on issues like the timing of Modi’s rallies.”
Menon adds that credible investigations into voter roll integrity are essential. “Once faith in the rolls erodes, everything else – EVMs, counting, turnout – becomes suspect.”
Digitalisation has made rolls more accessible but also more vulnerable. Online portals allow citizens to add, delete or correct entries, but security measures vary by state. Civil society groups warn that without robust audit trails and independent oversight, automated deletions or bulk uploads could go undetected.
Legal and Political Road Ahead
Gandhi has given ECI a one-week deadline to share data with Karnataka CID. AAP leaders say they are exploring legal options, including contempt petitions if the Commission fails to act on their complaints.
Meanwhile, parliamentary opposition parties are discussing a joint strategy. A senior Congress MP suggested seeking a Supreme Court-monitored probe. “We want this to be like the 1990s hawala investigation – above politics,” the MP said.
The ECI, for its part, may brief CID and issue clarifications about its IT systems. Insiders hint it could also announce stricter authentication norms for deletions ahead of state polls.
Democracy’s Fragile Plumbing
Behind the charged rhetoric lies a basic but crucial concern: the plumbing of democracy. Voter rolls are mundane yet foundational; if they’re compromised, the ballot loses meaning.
Veterans recall how, in 1990s, mass deletions in Bihar and West Bengal led to violent protests. Since then, India has largely avoided such controversies – until now. The alleged misuse of digital tools, coupled with a perception that ECI is not fully transparent, risks reviving old ghosts.
As evening fell on Thursday, television tickers blared the latest salvos. Gandhi hinted at “Phase Two” of disclosures, while AAP volunteers shared screenshots of suspect forms. On social media, hashtags like #VoteChori and #SaveOurDemocracy trended alongside government rebuttals.
Whether the storm yields reform or fizzles into partisan mudslinging remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the credibility of India’s elections, long a source of global pride, now depends on how convincingly institutions can answer the questions raised by an unlikely alliance between the Congress and AAP.
