New Delhi, Sep 18 (NationPress) Reinforcing Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s allegations regarding systematic voter deletions during the Karnataka Assembly elections of 2023, Congress figure Pawan Khera stated that the Election Commission must provide an explanation for this infringement of the electoral process. He questioned at whose behest the voter deletions were ‘permitted’ in the Aland constituency.

Khera also criticized the Election Commission, claiming that it is not cooperating with the CID investigation concerning alleged voter deletions in Karnataka.

In a conversation with IANS, Khera mentioned that an FIR regarding alleged irregularities in the voter rolls was only filed after Congress candidate B.R. Patil submitted numerous petitions to the poll panel.

Raising several inquiries, Khera pointed out: “Isn’t it true that the Election Commission is not assisting the CID's investigation? Isn’t it true that even after 18 reminders, the EC has failed to respond to CID's requests? Isn’t it true that the poll panel was caught in the act?”

When questioned about the Congress's victory in the same elections, the head of the Congress media and publicity department remarked that this is not merely an issue of electoral win or loss but rather a matter of electoral integrity, a principle that the grand old party has always upheld.

“This is not about victory or defeat. Congress won the elections and could have increased its victory margin by an additional 10,000 votes had there been no malpractice. The electoral process must be transparent and devoid of any imperfections, and the voter list should be impeccable,” he asserted.

Khera’s condemnation of the Election Commission aligns with Rahul Gandhi’s shocking accusation of vote deletions in Karnataka’s Aland constituency, where he asserted that over 6,000 votes were removed through an ‘organized and systemic’ approach using online tools.

He alleged that mass vote deletions occurred in Congress booths, facilitated by fake logins and utilizing phone numbers from outside the state, targeting voters who were supporters of the INDIA bloc.

For context, the Aland constituency in Karnataka, which Rahul referred to as a Congress stronghold, was won by Subhadh Guttedar (BJP) in 2018 and subsequently by B.R. Patil (INC) in the 2023 elections.