Rahul Gandhi Alleges Vote Theft in Karnataka’s Aland Constituency: What Happened?
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar threw his full support behind Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s claims of vote theft on Thursday. He called Gandhi’s allegations "200 per cent valid" and said the party had already raised these issues with the Election Commission of India (ECI) earlier.
Talking to reporters in Bengaluru, Shivakumar stressed that the Congress has repeatedly asked the ECI for voter data. "Whatever Rahul Gandhi said is spot on. This vote fraud is happening across the country," he added. He urged the ECI to stay independent and not view everything through a political lens. Shivakumar also pointed out that even in Karnataka, officials are demanding more information from them.
Earlier, senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat echoed Gandhi’s words. Speaking to , Rawat accused the ECI of behaving like a political party and dodging tough questions on the alleged vote chori (vote theft).
Gandhi’s Shocking Claims on Voter List Tampering
At a press conference, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, dropped fresh allegations of vote theft in Karnataka’s Aland constituency. He claimed someone tried to delete over 6,000 voters’ names from the list ahead of the 2023 elections. "In Aland, 6,018 votes were targeted for deletion. We don’t know the full scale of such fraud in the 2023 elections, but this one got caught by sheer luck," Gandhi said.
He explained how a Booth Level Officer spotted the issue when her uncle’s name vanished from the voter list. Gandhi went further, accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding "vote chors" and knowing exactly how fraudsters add fake voters or delete real ones. "I have 10 per cent proof that the CEC is protecting these vote thieves," he declared.
According to Gandhi, a group uses centralized software to impersonate genuine voters and manipulate lists. He revealed that insiders from the ECI are now helping Congress uncover this nationwide vote fraud. "We’re getting tips from within the Election Commission—something that never happened before. This won’t stop, and the people of India, especially the youth, won’t tolerate vote chori," Gandhi warned.
ECI and Karnataka Officials Push Back
The ECI quickly dismissed Gandhi’s vote theft allegations as "baseless and incorrect." They clarified that no one can delete votes online—public members have no access to do that.
Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) also responded, saying they had already handled the Aland case in 2023. In a statement, the CEO explained that the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in Aland received 6,018 online Form 7 applications in December 2022 to delete names from the 46-Aland Legislative Assembly Constituency.
Officials verified every application through ERO, Assistant ERO, and Booth Level Officers. They found only 24 genuine, so those got approved. The remaining 5,994 bogus ones were rejected outright—no deletions happened. Plus, an FIR was filed back in 2023 against those behind the fake applications.
Gandhi, however, isn’t backing down. He claims the investigation has dragged on for over two years because the ECI isn’t responding to letters from the Crime Investigation Department (CID). He sees this as more proof that the CEC is covering for vote chors.
This controversy over election fraud and voter list manipulation has sparked heated debates, with Congress demanding transparency from the ECI. As more details emerge, eyes are on how the poll body will address these serious vote theft claims in Karnataka and beyond.
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