Rahul fires another vote theft salvo, names CEC Kumar; EC says allegations incorrect

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Ramping up his attack on the issue of vote theft, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who "destroyed democracy". To buttress his allegation, he cited data from a Karnataka assembly constituency to claim that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted.

The Election Commission dubbed the allegations "incorrect and baseless" and said. "No deletion of any vote can be done online by any member of the public, as misconceived by Gandhi." Several BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, spoke out to slam Gandhi with Anurag Thakur saying he was trying to stoke chaos and create in India the kind of unrest seen in Nepal and Bangladesh.

In his fresh offensive against the Election Commission, Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, said the poll panel must stop protecting "vote chors" and provide within a week information sought by the Karnataka CID in an investigation into voter deletions.

If not, it will be known for sure that it is complicit in the "murder of the Constitution", Gandhi alleged at a press conference at the Congress' Indira Bhawan headquarters here. And this, he said at the outset, was not the "hydrogen bomb" revelations that he had promised. That will happen soon.

Gandhi cited details of alleged attempts to delete 6,018 votes in Karnataka's Aland constituency in the run up to 2023 assembly polls. He also gave the example of Maharashtra's Rajura constituency where he claimed 6,850 voters were added in a "fraudulent" manner using automated software.

"Same system is doing this. It is doing it in Karnataka, Maharashtra, it has done it in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and we have proof of it," the Congress leader alleged.

"Our demand is Gyanesh Kumar, do your job... You have taken an oath, you are India's chief election commissioner, you must give evidence to the Karnataka CID," Gandhi said, directly taking on the CEC.

He also asked the CEC to "stop giving excuses" and release evidence to the Karnataka CID immediately.

According to Gandhi, local EC officials filed an FIR after the Congress' Aland unit exposed the fraud and the CEC blocked the CID investigation.

Alleging that constitutional institutions are not doing their job properly, he said institutions within the country, including the legal framework, should step in.

"I am going to make a serious claim about Gyanesh Kumar. I am not saying this lightly, I am the leader of the opposition. The CEC is protecting 'vote chors' and the people who have destroyed Indian democracy," Gandhi alleged.

"I am just creating the foundation. This has been going on for 10-15 years. India's democracy has been hijacked. Democracy can only be saved by the people of India. Rahul Gandhi can show the truth. The day the people realise that their democracy and Constitution have been stolen, the job will be done," he said.

Talking about the Aland example, Gandhi said there were targeted deletions in strong Congress booths.

"The top 10 booths with maximum deletions were Congress strongholds. Congress won eight out of the 10 booths in 2018. This was not a coincidence; this was a planned operation," he alleged.

He claimed that in Aland, someone tried to delete 6,018 votes and got caught "by coincidence". Names of Congress voters were being deleted systematically by filing pleas after impersonating voters, he alleged.

The deletions, Gandhi said, were done using software and not by individuals, as the process of filling the form was done within seconds and in the early hours of the morning.

Gandhi said his revelations today are another milestone in demonstrating to the youth of the country how elections in the country are being "rigged".

Someone, Gandhi alleged, has been systematically targeting millions of voters, especially minorities and Dalits, for deletion across India.

The Congress leader said he is the leader of the opposition and will only say things backed by 100 per cent proof.

"I am someone who loves my country, I love my Constitution, I love the democratic process and I am protecting that process." Gandhi called on stage a voter whose vote was sought to be deleted and the person whose name was used to get the deletion done. Both denied any knowledge of it.

Noting that there is an ongoing investigation in Karnataka, Gandhi said the CID has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission and asked for some simple facts such as the destination IP from where these applications were filled and OTP trails.

They are not giving it because it will lead us to where this operation is being conducted, Gandhi claimed, while accusing the CEC of protecting those who are indulging in such acts.

The EC, he noted, knows who is doing this. "When they are not giving this information, they are defending the murderers of democracy." The Congress leader said it will take two-three months for the research and presentations on alleged "vote chori" that his party has been carrying out.

"When we are done with these presentations, you will have no doubt in your mind that state after state (elections) and Lok Sabha after Lok Sabha are being stolen. My job is to lay bare the truth and show it to the people of the country," Gandhi said.

Gandhi claimed the party is getting information and help from inside the Election Commission.

Asked who is the mastermind, Gandhi said he will also lay that before the people and his "hydrogen bomb" of revelations will put out everything in black and white.

The BJP hit back in equal measure.

Addressing a poll rally in Bihar, Union Home Minister Shah said Gandhi's accusation of vote theft is a "false narrative". "They (opposition parties) had taken recourse to similar tactics earlier when they had alleged that we were out to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs." His colleague, former Union minister Thakur, echoed him.

He alleged that the Congress leader may speaking of the interests of SCs, STs and OBCs but the aim was to shield illegal voters by opposing the EC's review of electoral rolls. Thakur asserted that Gandhi was shying away from filing an affidavit, as asked by the EC, or from moving the court as his claims were not substantiated.

Gandhi had earlier claimed that in Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Karnataka, over one lakh votes were "stolen through manipulation", and asserted that "vote chori" is like an "atom bomb on our democracy". PTI ASK/SKC NAB KR MIN MIN