Rahul Gandhi alleges vote theft via centralised software, targets Gyanesh Kumar

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has once again raised serious allegations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of aiding voter fraud. He claimed there is “101% proof” of vote theft using centralised software. According to him, unknown phone numbers were used to log in under someone else’s name to request the addition or deletion of voters.

At a press conference held at the AICC headquarters, Rahul revealed alleged attempts at voter manipulation in the Aland constituency in Karnataka and the Rajur constituency in Maharashtra. To support his claims, he presented two individuals who shared their experiences.

Rahul said the Karnataka CID had sent 18 letters to the Commission requesting details, including the destination IP address of devices from which OTPs were sent, but received no response. He demanded that the details be provided within a week. He alleged that the main target was Dalit and backward community voters who support Congress, and accused Gyanesh Kumar of protecting “the killers of democracy.” He also claimed that insiders from the Commission were leaking information and promised to “drop a hydrogen bomb” of evidence soon.

The Election Commission, however, rejected the allegations. BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, also hit back at Rahul.

Voter fraud in Aland

1. In the 2023 Assembly election, there was an attempt to delete 6,018 votes in Aland, where Congress candidate B.R. Patil won.
2. Applications for deletions were submitted through software in such a way that OTPs were sent to unknown mobile numbers. Rahul shared a video of 83-year-old Godabai, whose vote was allegedly removed.
3. In another case, a message to cancel 12 names was sent after hacking Suryakant’s phone. The attempt was made through a call centre at four in the morning. Suryakant revealed that he came to know about it from the booth-level officer. The booth-level officer was also present.

Voter fraud in Rajur

In Rajur, an attempt was made to add 6,850 fake votes using false names and fake addresses.

Election Commission's response

The Election Commission said it had already acted on the issue in February 2023. Out of 6,018 deletion requests received for Aland through the voter app, only 24 were accepted and 5,994 were rejected. An FIR was registered at the Aland police station, with the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer and the state cyber cell involved in the probe. The Commission added that it is ready to extend any further support.