- By Shubham Bajpai
- Thu, 18 Sep 2025 09:59 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday described his campaign against vote theft as a fight to protect democracy and expressed hope that the country's youth, students, and Generation Z will stop vote theft.
In a post on X, the Congress leader said, "The Youth of the Country, the Students of the Country, the Gen Z of the Country will save the Constitution, protect democracy, and stop vote theft. I always stand with them. Jai Hind!"
The mention of Gen Z has political implications, especially at a time when they brought the government of Nepal to its knees and toppled it. Besides, BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Thursday alleged that the Congress has been trying to create Nepal and Bangladesh-like situation in India.
"While the Election Commission of India is functioning without bias, Rahul Gandhi is busy weakening democracy, misleading citizens, and trying to create a situation like Bangladesh and Nepal," Thakur said.
Rahul's allegations
This comes hours after Gandhi held a press conference at Congress headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in New Delhi. During the press conference, the Lok Sabha LoP alleged that an attempt was made to delete voters in Congress stronghold constituencies.
Alleging "mass vote deletions" in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi said, "This deletion of votes has been done in a centralised manner, using software, and not through individuals," he said.
In the Aland constituency in Karnataka, Gandhi alleged that attempts were made to delete as many as 6,018 voters in 2023.
The fraudulent applications impersonating the real voters were filed automatically using mobile numbers. All this was done from outside Karnataka, he said.
देश के Yuva
देश के Students
देश की Gen Z
संविधान को बचाएंगे, लोकतंत्र की रक्षा करेंगे और वोट चोरी को रोकेंगे।
मैं उनके साथ हमेशा खड़ा हूं।
जय हिंद! pic.twitter.com/cLK6Tv6RpS
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 18, 2025
Karnataka CEO's reaction
The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) clarified that all the applications were verified, and incorrect ones were rejected.
Moreover, an FIR was lodged in the matter at the Aland Police Station. In a statement, the Karnataka CEO said the ERO in Aland received 6,018 Form 7 applications during December 2022. These applications were submitted online using multiple applications, including NVSP, VHA, and GARUDA.
The poll body said that each application was verified, as such a large number of online applications seemed suspicious. "Only 24 applications were found to be genuine, and another 5,994 were found to be incorrect. Accordingly, 24 applications were accepted and 5,994 incorrect applications were rejected and not deleted," the statement read.
"Based on the instructions given by ECI, the CEO, Karnataka, has handed over to the Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi district, on 06.09.2023, all the available information with ECI for completing the investigation," the statement added.