Vote Chori allegations again: Key takeaways from Rahul Gandhi's press conference

In another press conference regarding the vote theft, the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, alleged that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had been protecting "vote chors" (loosely translated into vote thieves). He also suggested that around 6,000 votes in favour of Congress were deleted ahead of elections in the Aland assembly constituency of Karnataka. However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed his allegations as baseless and incorrect.

Also Read: Rahul alleges CEC Gyanesh Kumar is protecting 'those destroying democracy'

Here are the important takeaways from Rahul's press conference

1. CEC is protecting vote chors and the people who have destroyed Indian democracy. In the presser, which was described as another milestone, Rahul said that he was making a strong claim about EC Gyanesh Kumar.

2. Rahul said he was going to show the people of India clear proof that the Election Commission had been protecting those who have destroyed Indian democracy.

3. He demonstrated how 6,018 voter names were deleted from the voter list in the Aland assembly constituency in Karnataka ahead of the 2023 assembly elections. He claimed the erased names belonged to Congress supporters. He said the number of deleted voters could be higher than 6,018.

Also Read: Rahul alleges voter lists tampering; attacks CEC Gyanesh Kumar

4. Rahul said a booth-level officer accidentally noticed that her uncle's vote was removed and found her neighbour had deleted it. When she approached her neighbour, he said he had no idea about it. Rahul claimed a 'force' hijacked the process and deleted the vote. He stated that 6,018 applications were filed impersonating voters, and this filing was carried out automatically with mobile numbers from outside the state.

5. Rahul sought the destination IP addresses to know the origin of these forms, and the device destination ports. He also demanded that the Election Commission provide OTP trails for the 6,018 applications, since every registration required an OTP for validation.

6. The Congress leader also noted that a CID probe into the voter theft matter was long overdue. According to him, the CID of Karnataka had repeatedly approached EC, 18 times in 18 months, to provide the details of IP, destination ports and OTP trails. "Why were they not giving it? Because this would lead us to where the operation is being done, and we were absolutely convinced where this was going to go,” said Rahul.

Also Read: Amit Shah dubs Congress’ 'Voter Adhikar Yatra‘ as 'Protect Infiltrators Yatra’

7. Rahul urged Gyanesh Kumar to stop ''protecting the people who are destroying Indian democracy'' and demanded that the EC release the data of these phones, these OTPs, within a week. He further alleged that in Rajura, Maharashtra, 6815 targeted voters were added. "In Aland, we caught deletions, in Rajura, we got additions, but the basic idea is the same..." he said, adding that Congress has proof that the same pattern has been implemented in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, and UP.

8. The Election Commission denied the allegations and called the 'vote theft' accusations baseless and incorrect. EC reiterated that a vote cannot be deleted by any individual online. "No deletion can take place without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person," EC noted in its response.

9. EC further noted that in 2023, after certain unsuccessful attempts were made to delete the voters in the Aland Assembly Constituency, ECI filed a case to investigate the matter.

10. ECI also clarified that in the 2023 assembly elections, BR Patil of the Indian National Congress won the Aland constituency. Before that, in the 2018 elections, Subhadh Guttedar of the BJP secured that post, indicating that deleting votes did not affect the Congress candidate in the elections.