Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Election Commission (EC) of acting only after he flagged alleged irregularities in voter lists, claiming the poll panel’s new verification measures came later in response to his intervention.

“We caught the theft and only then did you remember to put a lock – now we’ll catch the thieves too. So tell us, when are you going to give the evidence to CID?” Rahul wrote on X, addressing chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was referring to reports that the EC has introduced an 'e-sign' feature, mandating Aadhaar-based verification for adding or deleting votes.

Rahul alleged that the measure was rolled out only after he highlighted “vote theft” in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly constituency, where the state CID has registered an FIR and launched a probe.

Earlier, Rahul had claimed that several votes were sought to be cancelled in Aland using software manipulation, but the CID’s intervention prevented the alleged fraud.

He urged the EC to share evidence with investigators, insisting that those responsible for the “vote fraud” must be identified.

While EC officials have maintained that the new verification system is not linked to the Aland controversy, Gandhi accused the poll body of inaction and possible complicity.

His remarks have fueled a wider debate on electoral integrity and the EC’s role in safeguarding free and fair elections.

According to sources, the EC’s latest move aims to improve transparency in electoral roll management by linking voter deletion applications to Aadhaar-verified phone numbers, a step seen as curbing misuse of the system.