In a fresh attack directed at the Election Commission of India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was protecting people who have destroyed Indian democracy.
“I am going to show you... the youth of India, the people of India today proof that is black and white, absolutely clear that the Chief Election Commissioner of India is protecting the people who have destroyed Indian democracy. I am also going to show you the method by which votes are being added and deleted and how that is done,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said addressing a press conference on Thursday.
He stated that instead of ensuring free and fair elections, the poll body was acting in a biased manner.
'Systematic targeting'
The Congress leader claimed that some force or group of people have been systematically targeting millions of voters for deletion across India. Different communities -- mainly who were voting for the opposition, Dalits, Tribals, minorities, OBCs -- are targeted in particular. "We had heard this many times and now we found 100% proof of it," he alleged.
What happened in Aland?
Talking about the Aland constituency in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi alleged that around 6 thousand votes were deleted fraudulently by unknown people who used software and impersonated real voters.
"We don't know the total number of votes that were deleted in Aland in the 2023 election. They're likely much higher than 6,018," he said.
"But somebody got caught deleting 6,018 votes, and it was caught, like most crimes, by coincidence. What happened was the booth-level officer noticed that her uncle's vote was deleted. So, she checked who deleted her uncle's vote and found it was a neighbor. However, neither the person deleting the vote nor the person whose vote was deleted knew; some other force hijacked the process and deleted the vote, and, as luck would have it, got caught," Gandhi stated further.
Congress party targeted
The Congress leader claimed that in Aland, 6,018 applications were filed, impersonating voters. The people who allegedly filed these applications never actually filed them.
The filing was done automatically using software, Gandhi claimed, adding that mobile numbers from outside Karnataka and from different states were used to delete votes in Aland. These deletions specifically targeted booths where the Congress party was winning, he alleged.
Targeted deletions in strong Congress booths.
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 18, 2025
👉The top 10 booths with maximum deletions were Congress strongholds.
👉Congress won 8 out of the 10 booths in 2018.
👉 This was not a coincidence; this was a planned operation.
: LoP Shri @RahulGandhi
📍 Delhi pic.twitter.com/DJV2YTIFv2
Accusations against Gyanesh Kumar
Targeting CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Rahul Gandhi said the CID of Karnataka has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission, and they have asked them for some very simple facts.
"One, give us the destination IP from where these forms were filled. Number two, give us the device destination ports from where these applications were filed. And number three, most importantly, give us the OTP trails because when you file, you have to get OTP," Gandhi said.
"18 times in 18 months, the CID of Karnataka has written to the Election Commission for this, and they are not giving it. Why are they not giving it? Because this will lead us to where the operation is being done, and we are absolutely convinced where this is going to go," he added.
Let's come to why I'm making such a direct accusation against the CEC, Gyanesh Kumar. There is an ongoing investigation on this matter in Karnataka. The CID of Karnataka has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission. And they have asked the election commission for… pic.twitter.com/V8aWBkfszj
Gandhi had on September 1 -- at the concluding event of his Voter Adhikar Yatra – said that his party would come out with a "hydrogen bomb" of revelations about "vote chori" and after that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the country.
However, in his conference today, the Congress leader said that this was not the "hydrogen bomb" of evidence and added that it would be revealed later.
Last month, Gandhi, citing data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, had claimed that over one lakh votes were "stolen" through manipulation in Mahadevapura assembly segment in Karnataka, and asserted that "vote chori" is an "atom bomb on our democracy".
