Overview

• Applicants filing Forms 6, 7 or 8 on ECINet must now verify identity via an Aadhaar-linked mobile OTP on an external CDAC portal before submitting.
• The feature was visible on the portal from Tuesday, replacing the earlier setup where linking any phone number to an EPIC was sufficient without identity checks.
• Karnataka CID says nearly 100 SIM cards obtained with fake IDs were used to create logins and submit mass deletion requests in Aland, and it has sought fuller IP and OTP authentication logs from the EC.
• The EC maintains the public cannot delete votes online and says its 2023 Aland verification found only 24 of 6,018 deletion applications valid after physical checks, with an FIR already filed.
• Rahul Gandhi renewed his ‘vote theft’ allegation and urged CEC Gyanesh Kumar to share evidence with the CID, while poll-body sources said technical work on the e-sign step began in July–August.