The Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate allegations of attempted large-scale deletion of voters from the electoral rolls in the Aland constituency of Kalaburagi district. This decision follows accusations made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding the Election Commission of India's (ECI) handling of the matter.
The controversy arose after former Aland MLA B.R. Patil filed a complaint with the Election Commission, alleging that 6,670 voters in 256 polling booths had been illegally removed from the electoral rolls. Subsequent inquiries by the Election Commission revealed that applications had been submitted through various government online platforms seeking the deletion of 6,018 voters from the rolls. Of these, only 24 applications were verified as per procedure, approved, and the names were duly deleted. However, 5,994 applications were found to have been submitted by unknown persons with malicious intent, using multiple mobile numbers, in a way that the original voters remained unaware that their names were being fraudulently removed from the list.
The SIT will be led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), B.K. Singh. He will be assisted by two Superintendent of Police (SP) rank officers, Saidulu Adavath and Shubhanwita. The SIT has been granted police station powers and will handle the case registered at the Aland police station, as well as any other related cases. The government has directed the SIT to complete the investigation as quickly as possible.
Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the ECI was withholding crucial information from the Karnataka CID, which is investigating the case. He claimed that the CID had repeatedly requested the destination IP addresses and One Time Password trails related to the online applications, but the EC had not provided them. Gandhi also accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting "vote chors".
The Election Commission has refuted Rahul Gandhi's charges, stating that "no deletion of votes can be done online by any member of the public". The ECI clarified that while applications for deletion of votes can be submitted online, the actual deletion process is subject to rigorous manual verification by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The commission also stated that in the Aland case, the forged Form 7s were identified and rejected, ensuring that no voter was wrongfully deleted as a result of these submissions. The ECI has emphasized that the fact that these attempts were thwarted does not negate the seriousness of the crime and reiterated that criminal efforts to manipulate electoral rolls—even if unsuccessful—must be thoroughly investigated.
Despite the ECI's explanation, questions remain about the ECI's initial reluctance to share data with the Karnataka CID. The FIR explicitly mentions that action began only after a formal complaint by former MLA B.R. Patil, indicating that the investigation was reactive rather than proactive.
The formation of the SIT underscores the seriousness with which the Karnataka government is treating the allegations of attempted voter deletion in the Aland constituency. The investigation will likely focus on identifying the individuals or groups responsible for submitting the fraudulent deletion applications and determining their motives. The outcome of the SIT investigation could have significant implications for electoral integrity and the credibility of the Election Commission.
