New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday presented two individuals he claimed were directly linked to large-scale voter deletions, as he stepped up his allegations of an organised attempt to “murder Indian democracy.”
At a press conference described as a “hydrogen bomb” briefing, Gandhi produced Babita Choudhary, whose name he said was deleted from the voter rolls, and Suryakant, whose contact details were allegedly used in the deletion process.
“I am not going to say anything on this stage that is not backed up by 100 per cent proof,” the Leader of Opposition said. He alleged that “not done at a worker level, this was done at a call centre level,” pointing to what he claimed was a centralised mechanism behind the voter deletions.
Watch the presser here:
LIVE: Special Press Conference – Vote Chori Factory https://t.co/ne8cdFCnMs
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 18, 2025
Gandhi cited the case of Suryakant, questioning how he could complete a complex deletion process in such a short time. “Twelve voters in 14 minutes,” Gandhi said, describing the scale and speed as evidence of a coordinated operation.
Suryakant, however, denied any involvement. “Mere naam pe 12 logo ka naam delete kiya gya hai… mujhe malum nhi… Maine kisi ko bhi message nhi kiya (Twelve people’s names were deleted in my name… I don’t know… I haven’t sent any message to anyone),” he said at the press conference.
In Aland, Karnataka, Gandhi claimed, a “centralised criminal operation” was set up to steal elections by impersonation and filing deletion applications. He alleged that 6,018 deletion applications had been filed there, targeting Congress voters, often using mobile numbers from outside the state. The modus operandi, he said, included “automated filing of online EC forms.”
“This is not the hydrogen bomb,” Gandhi added, stressing that more evidence would follow. “The hydrogen bomb is in the making.”
The Congress leader accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those behind the deletions, saying the CEC was “protecting people murdering Indian democracy.” He also alleged that while the Karnataka CID has begun a probe and sought details, the Election Commission was not cooperating.
Gandhi claimed voter deletions had taken place in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and said the party would present further proof to authorities in the coming days.
