New Delhi: After repeatedly accusing the Election Commission of “vote chori” and other irregularities, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has now alleged large-scale ‘vote deletion’ in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, prompting a sharp rebuttal from the poll body.
The Lok Sabha Opposition leader addressed a press conference in Delhi, presenting a PowerPoint presentation where he claimed that thousands of votes from Congress strongholds were deleted using fake logins and software manipulation.
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
Rahul cited the Aland constituency as an example, alleging that “6,018 votes were attempted to be deleted” and asserting that mobile numbers from outside Karnataka were used to file fraudulent applications. “This was not random — booths where Congress was winning were specifically targeted,” he said.
Despite his charges, the constituency was eventually won by the Congress in 2023.
Election Commission Rejects Charges
The Election Commission of India dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s claims as “incorrect and baseless.”
In its statement, the ECI clarified that “no deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Mr. Gandhi.” The commission acknowledged there had been some unsuccessful attempts to delete voters’ names in Aland in 2023, but said it had itself filed an FIR into the matter.
❌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
It also pointed out that the seat was won by the BJP in 2018 and by the Congress in 2023, rejecting the suggestion that voters were systematically disenfranchised.
This escalates Rahul Gandhi’s ongoing confrontation with the Election Commission, as the opposition INDIA bloc continues to accuse the poll body of bias and mishandling of the electoral process.
