CEC Gyanesh Kumar Addresses Press to Clear the Air on "Vote Chori" Allegations, but Ends Up Creating More Fog Around It

Key Points:

The Election Commission of India stated on 17 August 2025 that it has not shared CCTV footage of the recent elections due to voters’ privacy concerns, following allegations of “vote chori” made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

At a press conference at the National Media Centre in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar criticised the allegations, calling them an “unsuccessful attempt” to mislead voters and an insult to the Indian Constitution.

The CEC said, “More than 1 crore officials, over 10 lakh booth-level agents, and over 20 lakh polling agents work during a Lok Sabha election. Can anyone steal votes in front of so many people and with such a transparent process? Some allegations of double voting were made, but when we asked for proof, we received nothing. Such allegations scare neither the Election Commission nor the voters.”

He added that the Election Commission was being used as a “launchpad” for political reasons.

Explaining the Commission’s stance, Gyanesh Kumar said, “The EC has fearlessly stood by voters across all sections and religions and will continue to stand by them like a rock.”

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He also clarified why the Election Commission has not disclosed the machine-readable voter list to any political party, despite allegations of fake names and multiple entries. According to him, sharing such data would compromise voters’ privacy. “The Supreme Court had already ruled in 2019 that it could breach a voter’s privacy,” he noted.

The CEC further explained that some voters were enrolled in multiple places, and that allegations of vote chori were being made using pictures of such voters.

Questioning the demand for CCTV footage disclosure, Gyanesh Kumar asked, “Should the Election Commission share CCTV videos of anyone’s mother, daughter-in-law, sister, or anyone else?”

The Election Commission’s response came after Rahul Gandhi announced his “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar. The 16-day march, covering 1,300 km across 20 districts, aims to protest against the EC’s Special Intensive Report (SIR) of the voter list.

The Karnataka High Court had directed Rahul Gandhi to take an oath on the matter and submit a declaration regarding any alleged irregularities in the voter list. Gyanesh Kumar said that if a person is not a voter of the constituency, he or she can still lodge a complaint as a witness.

Kumar asserted that the election body cannot remain silent if voters are insulted. Targeting Gandhi, he said, “An affidavit has to be given, or he must apologise to the nation. There is no third option. If we don’t receive an affidavit within seven days, it means these allegations are baseless.”

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, responding to Gyanesh Kumar, said, “If you do not intend to share the footage, why do you even record it?” He then pointed out the Election Commission’s revised rules, under which CCTV footage is kept for 45 days before being permanently deleted. “Why isn’t privacy hampered in those 45 days?” asked Khera.

On August 7, 2025, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had accused the Election Commission of India of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that around 1,00,250 votes were stolen in the Mahadevapura assembly segment of Bangalore Central, which helped the BJP secure its victory. [Rh/VS]

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