Indian Election Commission protecting ‘vote thieves’, says Rahul Gandhi

He claims his allegations are backed by “100 percent proof”

Indian leader Rahul Gandhi has criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing its chief Gyanesh Kumar of “protecting those murdering democracy”, BBC has reported.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Gandhi said voter names had been manipulated to give the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a benefit in winning major state elections.

The BBC reported that he insisted the rigging allegations were backed by “100 percent proof” and that the panel had ignored repeated complaints from his Congress party.

The BJP and ECI rejected the claims, with the latter calling the allegations “incorrect and baseless”.

Gandhi’s latest remarks add to a series of vote theft allegations he has made against the ECI since early August.

First raising the issue at a media briefing in Delhi on Aug 7, he alleged widespread voter manipulation in last year’s national elections, citing data from the electoral body.

Although the ECI and BJP rejected his interpretation, the claims drew support from many opposition parties, including some former chief election commissioners.

Officials said the panel must address doubts over the credibility of the election process in a country with nearly a billion voters.

At a media briefing on Thursday, Gandhi alleged that over 6,000 voter names were deleted from Congress stronghold areas in Karnataka’s Aland constituency, mostly from minority and disadvantaged groups.

The BBC reported Gandhi as saying that Karnataka police investigators “had written 18 letters in 18 months to the ECI” seeking details, but all were ignored.

He also urged “CEC Gyanesh to release the details within a week”.

The ECI responded, saying voter names cannot be deleted online “by any member of the public, as misconceived” by Gandhi, and claimed to have filed a police complaint over “certain unsuccessful attempts made for deletion of voters in Aland”, according to the BBC.

Gandhi also alleged that 6,850 fake names were added to the voters’ list in Rajura, Maharashtra, a claim the election panel did not address.