EC dismisses Rahul Gandhi's claims against CEC Gyanesh Kumar as incorrect and baseless

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected allegations of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar for protecting those allegedly involved in "Vote Chori" scams. 

The poll body has called all claims made by Rahul Gandhi "incorrect and baseless." In a sharp response, the ECI said, "Allegations made by Shri Rahul Gandhi are incorrect and baseless. No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Shri Rahul Gandhi." 

It clarified that no voter can be removed from the electoral roll without due process. Adding, "No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person." 

❌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

Responding to the vote deletion claims in the Aland constituency of Karnataka by Rahul Gandhi, the Election Commission accepted that attempts were made in 2023 to fraudulently delete voters, but asserted that they were all unsuccessful. It said that an FIR was filed by the EC itself to make sure that the matter was thoroughly investigated. 

The EC also highlighted that the outcome of the elections was fair, with the BJP's Subhadh Guttedar winning in 2018 and Congress's BR Patil emerging victorious in 2023. 

Back in the day, Rahul Gandhi had accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of protecting "vote chors", those who have "destroyed Indian Democracy." Citing instances of voter deletions in Karnataka's Aland and Maharashtra's Rajura constituencies, he had alleged that this was carried out very systematically all over the country with the help of automated software. 

Gandhi had also claimed that the Karnataka CID had written to the EC over 18 times in the past 18 months in this regard, where it sought technical details related to voter deletions, but the poll body did not share any information. 

The Leader of the Opposition had stated, "EC knows who is doing this. They are defending the murderers of democracy." He also hinted that he will soon reveal his "hydrogen bomb of evidence" on "vote chori."