Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on BJP and the Election Commission over ‘vote chori’ as he came with proof of systemic voter manipulation, with Karnataka's Aland constituency as the prime example. During a press conference, the Sabha Leader of Opposition alleged that some of the names were being struck off electoral rolls through software manipulation and fake applications. He alleged that somebody tried to delete 6018 votes in Aland constituency in Karnataka.

"Aland is a constituency in Karnataka. Somebody tried to delete 6018 votes. We don't know the total number of votes that were deleted in Aland in the 2023 election. They are much higher than 6,018, but somebody got caught deleting those 6018 votes, and it was caught by coincidence. What happened was that the booth-level officer there noted that her uncle's vote was deleted, so she checked who deleted her uncle's vote, and she found that it was a neighbour who deleted the vote. She asked her neighbour, but they said I did not delete any vote. Neither the person deleting the vote nor the person whose vote was deleted knew. Some other force hijacked the process and deleted the vote,” he said.
Check top 10 quotes of Rahul Gandhi from the press conference:
Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting "people who are destroying Indian democracy". He cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.
He said the Election Commission must stop this and provide within a week information sought by the Karnataka CID in an investigation into voter deletions, Rahul Gandhi said.
Someone has been systematically targeting millions of voters for deletion across India, he claimed. "I am the leader of opposition and I will not say anything which is not backed by 100 per cent proof," Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi also called on stage a voter whose vote was attempted to be deleted and the person whose name was used to get the deletion done. Both denied any knowledge of the same. He said these deletions were being done using a software.
Highlighting that there is an ongoing investigation in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi said the CID has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission and has asked for some very simple facts such as the destination IP from where these applications were filled and OTP trails.
He clarified that the so called 'Hydrogen Bomb' was still expected as he claimed that a "certain group of people" are systematically cutting the votes of minority groups who specifically vote for the Congress.
"I am going to show the youth, the people, proof that is black and white, absolutely clear that Chief Election Commissioner of India is protecting people who have destroyed Indian democracy. I will also show you the methods by which votes are added, deleted and show you how it is done," Rahul Gandhi said during a press conference at the Congress headquarters.
He said, “My job is to participate in democratic system; constitutional institutions not doing their job properly. As a patriotic Indian who loves Constitution, it is my duty to bring truth to protect democracy.”
Giving details about the alleged fraud, the Congress leader said, "In Aland, ovewr 6,000 applications were filed impersonating voters, the people who filed these applications never filed them. The filing was done using software, mobile numbers outside Karnataka were used to delete numbers in Aland and it was done targeting Congress voters."
The Congress leader also claimed that fraud has taken place in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, and also in various assembly segments, including in Karnataka's Mahadevpura segement.