Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has launched a fresh broadside against the Election Commission of India, accusing it of 'protecting' people who have 'destroyed' Indian democracy.
At a much-hyped press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday, Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged that some groups of people were 'systematically targeting' millions of voters for the purpose of deletion.
He added that minorities and the Dalits were specially targeted in this process.
In Karnataka's Aland, Gandhi said, as many as 6,018 deletion applications were filed by impersonators to target the Congress voters.
"The people who filed these applications actually never filed them. The filing was done automatically using software. Mobile numbers from outside Karnataka, from different states, were used," he claimed.
The Congress leader further alleged that a targeted deletion of votes was done in the party's strongholds through a planned action.
Gandhi also called on stage a voter whose vote was attempted to be deleted, and the person whose name was used to get the deletion done. Both denied any knowledge of the same.
He said that, though the Karnataka CID had started an investigation seeking details from the EC on deletions done, the poll body was not providing the required information.
"The CID has sent 18 letters in 18 months to the Election Commission and has asked for some very simple facts such as the destination IP from where these applications were filled and OTP trails. They are not giving it because it will lead us to where this operation is being conducted," Gandhi claimed.
The Rae Bareli MP also cited the example of Maharashtra's Rajura constituency, where he claimed voters were added in a fraudulent manner using automated software.
Gandhi had earlier said he would soon drop a 'hydrogen bomb' of revelations about the alleged vote theft. "This is not a hydrogen bomb. That is coming," he said on Thursday.