Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday launched a blistering attack on the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI), claiming massive voter manipulation ahead of elections. Using Karnataka’s Aland constituency as a key example, Gandhi alleged that thousands of votes were targeted for deletion through software manipulation and fake applications.

"Aland is a constituency in Karnataka. Somebody tried to delete 6,018 votes. We don’t know the total number of votes deleted, but this was just the portion that got caught by coincidence," Gandhi said, explaining how booth-level officers discovered the irregularities after noticing a voter’s name had mysteriously disappeared from the rolls.

During his press conference, Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of shielding those he called “people who are destroying Indian democracy.” He presented alleged proof of systematic targeting of Congress voters across multiple states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Some of his key statements included:

“Someone has been systematically targeting millions of voters for deletion across India. I am the Leader of Opposition and I will not say anything which is not backed by 100 per cent proof.”

“The Election Commission must provide within a week information sought by the Karnataka CID, including destination IPs and OTP trails, to investigate voter deletions.”

“In Aland, over 6,000 applications were filed impersonating voters. People whose names were used never filed these applications. The software and mobile numbers from outside Karnataka were used to target Congress voters.”

“I am going to show the youth, the people, proof that is black and white, absolutely clear that the Chief Election Commissioner of India is protecting people who have destroyed Indian democracy.”

“My job is to participate in the democratic system; constitutional institutions not doing their job properly. As a patriotic Indian who loves the Constitution, it is my duty to bring truth to protect democracy.”

Gandhi further highlighted that the Karnataka CID had sent 18 letters in 18 months to the ECI requesting technical details, but received no cooperation. He also warned that a “hydrogen bomb” of disclosures is yet to come, claiming a specific group is systematically targeting minority voters.