Overview

• Rahul Gandhi alleged that 6,018 voters in Karnataka’s Aland were targeted for removal in 2023 through online deletion forms filed without their knowledge.
• He said the Karnataka CID sent 18 letters seeking details such as OTP trails and destination ports, asserting that the Election Commission has not shared the requested logs.
• The Election Commission called the allegations incorrect and baseless, stressed that no member of the public can delete names online, and said it filed an FIR after the unsuccessful attempt.
• Both reports detail a procedural gap: the ECINet portal accepts Form 7 without documentary proof and allows EPIC numbers to be linked to different phone numbers, a vulnerability the ECI has acknowledged.
• Under Section 22 and related rules, EROs must issue notice, allow response, hold a hearing, and rely on BLO field verification before any deletion, with ECI systems logging activity and preventing automatic removals.