Bengaluru: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of protecting those behind large-scale voter deletions in Karnataka’s Aland constituency, praising Rahul Gandhi for exposing the scam with evidence.

Kharge said the CID had written 18 letters to the ECI in the past 18 months but received no crucial information to trace the culprits. “The Election Commission is standing like a stone wall, shielding the accused,” he posted on X, raising questions over the BJP’s role in “destroying democratic institutions.”

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cited the case of a woman named Godabai, in whose name a fake login was allegedly created to delete 12 voters, including her own. He said attempts were made to delete many more names before being stopped.