Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has renewed his attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of “protecting those murdering democracy” by failing to act on what he calls undeniable proof of voter list manipulation.
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi on Thursday, Gandhi alleged that names of voters were deliberately deleted or added to electoral rolls to favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key state elections. He claimed that the deletions disproportionately targeted minorities and disadvantaged communities that traditionally back Congress.
Gandhi cited the Aland assembly constituency in Karnataka as a case in point, saying more than 6,000 names from Congress strongholds were removed ahead of the 2023 state polls. Karnataka police have been investigating the allegations since last year and, according to Gandhi, wrote 18 letters to the ECI seeking data but received no response.
He gave the commission a one-week deadline to release the details, saying its credibility was on the line in the world’s largest democracy. He also alleged that in Maharashtra’s Rajura constituency, over 6,800 fake names were added to voter rolls — an accusation the commission has not addressed.
The ECI rejected Gandhi’s claims as “incorrect and baseless,” insisting that public deletion of voter names is not possible online and noting that it had itself filed a police complaint when attempts were made to tamper with the Aland voter list in 2023. The BJP also dismissed the accusations as politically motivated.
Gandhi’s remarks are the latest in a series of allegations he has made since August, accusing the government of orchestrating “vote theft.” Some former election commissioners have urged the ECI to respond more transparently to restore public confidence in the electoral process ahead of upcoming state and national elections.