Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has sharpened his criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar blocked a probe into alleged voter deletions in Karnataka&rsquo;s Aland constituency.
Gandhi claimed that despite repeated requests from the Karnataka CID and the state election authorities, key evidence, such as IP addresses and OTP trails, was withheld by the Commission. He alleged that had 6,018 votes not been restored, the Congress candidate could have lost the election.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
After our Aland candidate exposed the fraud, the local EC official filed an FIR, but the CID investigation has been - BLOCKED by CEC. The Karnataka CID has written 18 letters in 18 months requesting all incriminating evidence - BLOCKED by CEC. The Karnataka EC has sent multiple&hellip; <a href="https:/t.co/l6vOv2nNga">https:/t.co/l6vOv2nNga</a>
&mdash; Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) <a href="https:/twitter.com/RahulGandhi/status/1968615647765741963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>

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Earlier in the day, he charged the CEC with shielding &ldquo;vote thieves&rdquo; and weakening democracy, while citing data from Aland to claim systematic removal of Congress supporters&rsquo; names.
The Election Commission, however, strongly refuted the allegations in a fact-check post, terming them &ldquo;incorrect and baseless.&rdquo; The poll body clarified that no online deletions are possible and that an FIR was itself lodged by the Commission in 2023 after unsuccessful attempts were made to delete votes in Aland fraudulently.
The EC also pointed out that elections in the constituency had produced fair outcomes, with BJP&rsquo;s Subhadh Guttedar winning in 2018 and Congress&rsquo;s BR Patil in 2023.
Later, the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer confirmed that all available information in the case had already been handed to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi, for investigation. Officials maintained that the ECI had extended full cooperation in the probe.

Rahul Gandhi accuses CEC of blocking probe; EC rejects charges as baseless in Aland case

Rahul Gandhi, EC Clash Over Voter Deletion

Rahul Gandhi accuses CEC of blocking probe; EC rejects charges as baseless in Aland case

September 19, 2025 | 11:18 IST