It has sparked a buzz about who the woman was and why Rahul brought her up.
Was Rahul referring to Seema Khanna, the Election Commission's director general (IT)?
Political commentator and Congress worker Vijay Thottathil said the woman Rahul referred to was likely Khanna.
"Rahul Gandhi said about a person hiding in Dehradun who is equally responsible as Gyanesh Kumar in the 'vote chori' scam.
advertisementAs per the report, the two election commissioners flagged complaints by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) that they were being restricted from accessing the portal.
Rahul Gandhi's attack on the Election Commission and the BJP government over 'vote chori' had a new entrant on Tuesday - a lady who is hiding in Dehradun. As Rahul continued his blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, his cryptic reference added an element of intrigue to the INDIA bloc press conference. It has sparked a buzz about who the woman was and why Rahul brought her up.
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Underlining that the "political resistance" would continue, Rahul asserted that all those behind the alleged "vote chori (vote theft)" would be brought to justice. "It is our commitment to you that the people who have done this, PM Modi, (Amit) Shah, Gyanesh Kumar, the lady who's hiding right now in Dehradun, and others are going to be brought to justice," the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) said.
While Rahul did not reveal the identity of the woman, the cryptic reference opened floodgates to speculation. Was Rahul referring to Seema Khanna, the Election Commission's director general (IT)?
Khanna's role has come under scrutiny after an Indian Express investigation revealed that two Election Commissioners raised concerns over the centralised control of the electoral roll software, ERONet.
The software, which has now been incorporated into the ECINet platform, allows state-level officials to update voter records - a legal mandate.
Political commentator and Congress worker Vijay Thottathil said the woman Rahul referred to was likely Khanna.
"Rahul Gandhi said about a person hiding in Dehradun who is equally responsible as Gyanesh Kumar in the 'vote chori' scam. Where is Seema Khanna?" Thottathil tweeted.
AICC media coordinator Harmeet Kaur made the same suggestion.
"Where is Seema Khanna? Is she hiding in Dehradun? And who is shielding her? Remember, ECI data is still under her control. Who is protecting her, and what are they trying to hide?" Kaur tweeted while sharing the video of Rahul's remarks.
Election Commission sources said Khanna has been camping in Dehradun to oversee election preparedness in Uttarakhand. The hill state goes to polls next year.
WHO IS SEEMA KHANNA? WHAT IS THE ROW?
Seema Khanna joined the ECI on deputation in 2025. She was previously associated with the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Khanna, an M.Tech graduate, holds a Doctorate degree in information security from IIT Delhi.
Khanna's name came into focus following the Indian Express expose, which revealed that the two Election Commissioners objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months to various ECI decisions.
One of the clearest disagreements was regarding the system through which electoral-roll data is maintained. As director general (IT), the portal is overseen by Khanna.
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As per the report, the two election commissioners flagged complaints by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) that they were being restricted from accessing the portal. This was seen as a potential blow to the integrity of the elections itself.
Under the Representation of the People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules, EROs have statutory responsibility to add, correct and delete names from electoral rolls.
Basically, the ERO prepares the voters' list and decides which names will stay and which get deleted. This issue is at the heart of the contentious SIR exercise, which has resulted in over 13 crore exclusions nationwide.
This is why Khanna's role has come under intense scrutiny and also opposition fire.
One of the election commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, also said in an internal note that Khanna doesn't have any "legal authority to restrict complete access" to the EROs.
Moreover, Sandhu also complained of not being kept in the loop over "new modules" and "portals" being developed by Khanna's IT division.
Even after the launch of the ECINet in January, which brought around 40 election-related portals under one platform, the complaints continued.
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Overall, the investigation raised concerns about whether state-level election officials had unfiltered access to the software to correct errors and restore voters' names amid the SIR exercise, or whether some of the tasks had come under the control of the ECI's IT department under Seema Khanna.
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