New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed he had uncovered a massive voter deletion scam targeting millions across India. He stopped short of dropping the promised “hydrogen bomb” of evidence on his “vote chori” (theft) allegations. He claimed preparations were underway for that. Rahul Gandhi gave a one-week deadline to chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to respond to his allegations
Here are the key revelations made at the presser:
Deletion of votes: Rahul Gandhi cited example of Aland constituency in Karnataka to claim that someone tried to delete 6,018 votes. “We don’t know the number total number of votes that were deleted in Aland… It is much higher than 6,018. But somebody got caught,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.
Godabai and fake logins: Gandhi alleged that these deletion attempts were specifically targetting booths where the Congress party was winning. He cited an example of a woman called ‘Godabai’ claiming that someone created fake logins in the name of Godabai and tried to delete 12 voters. “Godabai has no idea,” Rahul Gandhi said.
The cellphone number ‘fraud’: Rahul Gandhi claimed that cellphone numbers used for deleting voters were not from Karnataka but from different states. Slides of “evidence” played on a screen in the background as he spoke. He asked whose numbers were those and who generated the OTPs?
Rahul Gandhi said. Sharing another example of a person called Nagaraj, Rahul Gandhi showed in the presentation how two forms were apparently filled within 38 seconds at 4:07 am. He called this “humanly impossible”.
Call centre level operation: “Someone” ran an automated programme that ensured the first voter of the booth was the applicant, Rahul Gandhi alleged. He claimed all this was done at a call centre level as part of a planned operation.
Accusations on CEC Gyanesh Kumar: Rahul Gandhi alleged that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was shielding those who were doing the ‘vote loot.’ Citing instances from Karnataka’s Aland and Maharashtra’s Rajura constituencies, Rahul Gandhi said, “The Karnataka CID has sent as many as 18 reminder letters to the Election Commission over the last year and a half, the last one dated September 2025, seeking information linked to the alleged voter deletion scam.” Despite repeated appeals, officials said no substantive response came from the poll body, he alleged.
Election Commission of India must stop protecting Vote Chors.
They should release all incriminating evidence to Karnataka CID within 1 week. #VoteChoriFactory pic.twitter.com/Abiy1OHLQP
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 18, 2025
What did EC said?
The Election Commission of India (EC) dismissed as Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was shielding those involved in voter deletion scams. “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 stated. The poll body further clarified that no voter could be removed from the rolls without due process: “No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person,” it said.
❌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
Regarding Gandhi’s Karnataka Aland constituency claim, the Commission admitted that attempts were made in 2023 to fraudulently delete voters. But those were unsuccessful attempts, it claime. An FIR was filed by the EC to ensure the matter was probed.
